WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-1) today applauded the final passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act, of which she is an original cosponsor.  The bill now goes to the President’s desk for his signature.  Congresswoman DeGette offered the following statement:

“Nearly a year and a half ago, the House passed this bill in its original form, and while it has taken awhile to get here, I am so pleased that today we take a final step in the decades-long fight to finally update our nation’s food safety infrastructure.  From Salmonella in eggs to E-coli in cheese, the last few months alone have proven that every day we have waited to pass food safety legislation was one day too many. But today, we finally send this critical overhaul of the food safety system to the President’s desk to become law.

“The mandatory recall authority in this bill means we no longer have to rely on corporations to act in good faith, and greater inspection of imported goods means we can ensure that they are just as safe as what is cultivated and produced domestically.   I still stand by the stronger traceability provisions I fought for in the bill the House passed last year, so I look forward to working with the FDA to maximize the traceability pilot projects called for in this legislation.

 “Food safety is both a public health issue and an economic issue. This bill represents the best of what the American people sent us here to do – work together on a bipartisan basis to keep their families safe and healthy, while securing the key industries that help drive our economy.”

H.R. 2751 now goes to President Obama’s desk for his signature.

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