WASHINGTON – Tonight, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) hailed the House passage of the Food Safety Enhancement Act, of which she is an original cosponsor. To address procedural concerns, the bill was included as part of the Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011 Act, and now returns to the Senate for final passage, before it goes to the President’s desk for his signature.
The following is the text of Congresswoman DeGette’s Floor Statement on the food safety bill, as prepared for delivery:
“Today we take the last few steps in the decades-long fight to finally update our nation’s food safety infrastructure.
“When you consider that the current food safety system has remained largely unchanged since it was first adopted in the 1930’s, it is no wonder that each year thousands of Americans fall ill and even die, as a resulted of tainted food.
“In fact, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that food contaminations cause 76 million illnesses in the U.S. each year, including over 300,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths.
“And the economic cost is equally astounding.
“A recent report estimates that in Colorado alone over $2.3 billion is spent on the health-related costs of foodborne illness.
“And of course, the cost to our nation’s food industry – from the farmer to the producer to the community supermarket – is often even greater.
“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.
“As we evaluate this final bill today, I still stand by the stronger traceability provisions I fought for in the bill this Chamber passed last year.
“While this bill marks an improvement to our current regime, I still believe over the next few years Congress will have to maximize the traceabilty pilot projects called for in this legislation in order to develop the tools we need to pull tainted products from the shelves or prevent unsafe food products from even getting into our stores and homes.
“Nonetheless, 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.
“But the benefit of these changes won’t come overnight. So I look forward to working with the FDA as they put this new law to work.
“This bill could overcome years of intransigence and partisanship that have needlessly exposed people throughout my state of Colorado and across the U.S. to foodborne illness.
“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.
“I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I look forward to the Senate finding a way to send this to the President and I yield back my time.
The following is the text of Congresswoman DeGette’s Floor Statement on the food safety bill, as prepared for delivery:
“Today we take the last few steps in the decades-long fight to finally update our nation’s food safety infrastructure.
“When you consider that the current food safety system has remained largely unchanged since it was first adopted in the 1930’s, it is no wonder that each year thousands of Americans fall ill and even die, as a resulted of tainted food.
“In fact, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that food contaminations cause 76 million illnesses in the U.S. each year, including over 300,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths.
“And the economic cost is equally astounding.
“A recent report estimates that in Colorado alone over $2.3 billion is spent on the health-related costs of foodborne illness.
“And of course, the cost to our nation’s food industry – from the farmer to the producer to the community supermarket – is often even greater.
“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.
“As we evaluate this final bill today, I still stand by the stronger traceability provisions I fought for in the bill this Chamber passed last year.
“While this bill marks an improvement to our current regime, I still believe over the next few years Congress will have to maximize the traceabilty pilot projects called for in this legislation in order to develop the tools we need to pull tainted products from the shelves or prevent unsafe food products from even getting into our stores and homes.
“Nonetheless, 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.
“But the benefit of these changes won’t come overnight. So I look forward to working with the FDA as they put this new law to work.
“This bill could overcome years of intransigence and partisanship that have needlessly exposed people throughout my state of Colorado and across the U.S. to foodborne illness.
“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.
“I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, and I look forward to the Senate finding a way to send this to the President and I yield back my time.
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