Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing, RE: Dimished Capacity: Can the FDA Assure the Safety and Security of Our Nation’s Food Supply—Part III
WASHINGTON, DC,
Oct 11, 2007 -
Thank you Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Whitfield.
This year, we have seen an alarming number of recalls of imported goods. This committee has taken an active role to try to safeguard America from dangerous food and consumer products, primarily, imported from the Republic of China. I thank the leadership of this subcommittee for holding the third hearing in this series of hearings on the safety of the nation’s food supply.
While this subcommittee has aggressively pursued a bipartisan investigation of this matter, I look forward, and strongly urge, the full Energy and Commerce Committee to also aggressively pursue legislation to address this problem.
As we know, Chairman Dingell has introduced H.R. 3610, The Food and Drug Import Safety Act of 2007. I thank the Chairman for introducing legislation on this important matter, and I look forward to working with him on this issue. Having reviewed this legislation, I think its intentions are good, but as always the devil is in the details. I believe that we need to look toward how other federal agencies have dealt with this issue and whether it would be appropriate for FDA to have similar authorities. I hope that today’s hearing will help us further the goal of transforming the Food and Drug Administration into an agency that can fully cope with the importation problems of the 21st Century. If the FDA needs additional authorities, needs additional resources to be able to truly protect Americans, then we need to have a frank conversation about that, and I look forward to engaging in a candid conversation with the witnesses today.
I continue to be very interested in a proposal developed by Dr. Bill Hubbard, former FDA Associate Commissioner, that we have discussed at length and that he has mentioned in previous committee hearings on this issue. This approach would grant the FDA the authority to embargo a specified food from a specified country, much like a similar authority USDA has in regard to meat and meat products. If the standard is good enough for our meat products, then it makes sense that it should be good enough for all food and drink imported into the U.S. While I had hoped to have had legislation ready to introduce prior to this hearing, unfortunately, I’ve had some difficulties obtaining answers from some relevant parties. However, I am pleased that the FDA is here with us today, and welcome an open discussion regarding this proposal.
Again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for holding this hearing today. I yield back the remainder of my time.
