[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1649-E1652]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WE BECOME SILENT
______
HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, the following is an abridged transcript of
a film entitled ``We Become Silent,'' written and produced by Cleveland
resident, Kevin Miller. The topic is the potential effects of the Codex
Alimentarius Commission's guidelines on vitamin and mineral supplement
safety.
Narrator: FEAR.
Its' darkness causes humanity to make awful choices. With
dreadful power, fear can rule our lives--and paralyze lofty
hopes and dreams . . . in an instant.
It is the antithesis of god, fear is--a destructive dark
side--the ghost that haunts the brain. It is a universal
trait--a global affliction--and a tool deployed all-too-often
by those intent on inflicting control over the masses.
Robert Verkerk, Ph.D.--Fear preys on the most vulnerable
among us. Fear sells. And Nowhere is fear peddled more
shamelessly than in the fields of medicine and human
nutrition.
Narrator: Fear anesthetizes us . . . it coerces us . . .
making us believe that we can do little on our own to prevent
or treat disease . . . and forces entire NATIONS to kneel at
the altars of orthodox medicine.
Robert Verkerk, Ph.D.--And of course, the fear-mongers are
also preying on the fear of disease. And the solution the
fear-mongers give us are drugs, yet drugs are the single most
dangerous thing we can put in our mouths.
Narrator: It's a sad fact that Pharmaceuticals have become
the dope of modern man--and make no mistake, we are addicted.
Last year, between 3-5 billion prescriptions were written in
the U.S. alone. And for all of its' miracles and heroism,
western medicine has also left disaster in its' wake. The
burdens of drug side effects are being exposed daily: Prozac,
Vioxx, Celebrex, Baycol, Lariam, and Zoloft--just to name a
few--are deeply uncomfortable reminders that secrecy and
sales have often circumvented safety.
There's also the crippling burden of health insurance, and
the MILLIONS who are debilitated by a wave of red ink,
bankrupted as a result of an unexpected illness that they
could not afford. As if by design, health choices are
limited, information is frightfully scarce, lives are ruined
. . . and the truth be damned.
Scott Bukow: Business is business, and people don't like
competition. Smart business people may not always do
something that's best for the people or for someone's health.
Narrator: In addition to these painful realities of life,
however, an abundance of evidence now suggests . . . that
this holy reverence towards modem medicine--may be killing
us.
Carolyn Dean, MD--I wrote Death by Modern Medicine,
inspired actually after writing a paper called Death by
Medicine . . . And what I found after analyzing government
databases and peer-reviewed journal articles . . . I found
that 784,000 people are dying annually, prematurely, due to
modem medicine intervention. When I added up the figures I
could get my hands on, I came up with that astounding number,
and also found studies that said we're only capturing 5-20
percent of the actual deaths . . .
Simmon Wilcox, MD--We're clear that the status quo is equal
to a premature death in
[[Page E1650]]
this country . . . Someone needs to stand up and scream
``FOUL, SOMETHING'S GONE AWRY.'' Somebody needs to stop this
madness, and say to the public, ``There's a better option . .
. We will no longer accept the status quo.''
Narrator: But the fear machine is well oiled by
petrochemical dollars and a near worldwide monopoly in
medicine. It works overtime to prevent the truth about
dietary supplements from getting out to the public.
Governments, particularly in Europe and the United States,
seem all-too-eager to comply with the robber barons of
healthcare. It has always been so . . . as evidenced by this
forty-year-old government film . . . which is but one of many
in their arsenals.
FDA Film: 1966: But it's still the same old snake oil . . .
Title appears: ``Health Fraud Racket--Presented by FDA''
Narrator: During the 1990s, however--despite generations of
institutional bias--American consumers won critical battles
against the FDA and the medical/pharmaceutical establishment.
Joseph BASSETT: In the mid-90s, there were movements to put
all supplements on prescription basis and in all of the
countries where they've done that it more than doubled the
cost and made them not available and it's really a freedom of
choice issue . . . it's a consumers issue . . . (1:30) so we
were fighting for the right to access for our own use, our
family's use, and for our businesses. And fortunately, the
health consumer agreed. (1:40) . . . we were actually able to
marshal, one day in a period of hours, one million phone
calls to their government . . . (5:08) It was really a
citizens' uprising.
Narrator: This massive consumer movement for medical
freedom was invigorated when the FDA became enveloped in
controversy of its' own making. The agency approved a guns
drawn raid at the clinic of Dr. Jonathan Wright, and also
raided dozens of health food stores in a pre-meditated power-
grab. Consumer outrage fueled Hollywood to become immersed in
the debate, and actors like James Earl Jones and Sharon
Stone became part of a national campaign for medical
freedom of choice. When Mel Gibson came aboard, he
documented his views in memorable fashion:
Police: ``Freeze''
Mel Gibson: Hey guys . . . guys . . . it's only vitamin C!
You know, vitamin C, like in oranges?''
Narrator: The result of the consumer outcry was that
DSHEA--the dietary supplement health education act--passed
overwhelmingly in 1994. This became the only national law
that linked the use of nutrients in dietary supplements to
reduced risk of disease. And since DSHEA helped ensure
relatively free access to a wide range of dietary supplements
for consumers, activists pulled back from the front lines,
thinking that their struggles were over. Others like Joe
Bassett knew better . . .
Joseph Bassett: We're in a particular industry . . . the
health food industry, that's always been under attack. It's
never stopped, it still isn't stopping because you have
vested interests. In our country you have everybody using
vested interests and the one's who are really entrenched use
the government.
Gerald Kessler: I believe that DSHEA has always been under
attack except for the first few years after DSHEA was passed.
And the present attacks are very broad . . . which means
worldwide, and some of the attacks are just specific to the
Unites States.
Narrator: Now, a bureaucratic shadow called Codex
Alimentarius threatens to silence the medical opposition
forever, both here and abroad. But Codex began innocuously
enough in 1963, as a creation of two arteries of the United
Nations: The Food and Agricultural Organization and the World
Health Organization. Back then, nearly everyone endorsed
their two major goals: to provide nutritious foods for
developing nations--and to shape guidelines for dangerous
industrial chemicals in the food supply.
Within the past decade, however, Codex Alimentarius has
altered its' mission dramatically--many say negatively so--to
include a wide swath of products including dietary
supplements and genetically modified organisms.
Mr. Scott Tips began serving as a U.S. delegate to Codex in
June of 2000. During the first meetings, he did everything he
could to communicate with the head of the US Delegation.
Scott Tips, National Health Federation: I, in a flurry of
notes, passed comments and suggestions (and the like) to
Elizabeth Yetley, who was the American delegate there--it
made no impact. In fact, the only impact I had was collar her
during a break and basically be very tough with her about a
particular clause that she was trying to remove from the
final report, that particular sentence or clause basically
said that the United States supports the right of consumers
to have free access to vitamins and minerals, and she
unilaterally yanked that from the final report.
Narrator: This attitude by Ms. Yetley, who is an employee
of the U.S. Food and Drug administration, is reflective of
codex meetings in general. In an attempt to shine light on
those who are unilaterally making public policy private,
health freedom advocate John Hammell took a small video
camera into two Codex meetings in 1998. These grainy videos
are all that remain of the tapes, which mysteriously
disappeared.
Yetley: moving right along, agenda No. 5 on vitamins and
minerals
Hammell: are you going to strike that second paragraph?
Yetley: well this is a draft positions . . . they're only
draft positions. they're not the final version or formal
position.
Hammell: you've seen the letter from Ron Paul, then? This
was signed by Ron Paul, Congressman Stump and Congressman
Cool.
Yetley: we have received alot of mail and we've looked at
all of it.
Hammel: so you acknowledge this is the will of congress and
of the American people correct?
Yetley: there's a wide range of opinions this one . . .''
Narrator: Despite multiple written requests--and the
intervention of a US Congressman--the FDA refused to answer
any questions about Codex, dietary supplements--or even
labeling--for this documentary. But judging from this rare
interview with Michael R. Taylor, then-deputy commissioner
for policy at FDA, it is obvious that the agency is
unaccustomed to honest intellectual inquiry from the media.
Kevin P. Miller: You stated your concern and the FDA
certainly has on L-Tryptophan. What about your concern about
something like Prozac, very well documented, 28,000 adverse
reports, 1600 suicides associated with that drug.
Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for policy, FDA:
Drugs that go thru our very rigorous testing and review
process are very well understood chemicals. And drugs are
recognized to have both risks and benefits, that's why they
go through a rigorous evaluation. And when those products are
put out on the market, we have a good scientific
understanding of the risks and benefits. And that's laid out
in very detailed labeling that physicians then use to decide
whether to prescribe those products for their patients. Side
effects are part of pharmaceuticals, that's recognized, and
that's why we're so careful scientifically. There's just no
comparison between that situation and dietary supplements,
which have not been subjected to that kind of study . . .
have not been evaluated by FDA, and a large part of the
problem with these supplements is that we simply don't
know about their safety, we don't know about their
benefits, yet there being marketed in some cases for
serious disease-related purposes. ``THERE'S A BIG
DIFFERENCE.''
Kevin P. Miller: Well obviously they would respond by
saying that it was the only natural alternative to some of
these kinds of drugs, and that's a concern to people who want
natural alternatives. And since the cases against Prozac have
been so high, people would question whether L-Tryptophan is
being judged under the same standard, if you will.
Michael R. Taylor: Well . . .
FDA Employee Interrupts: Kevin, that wasn't on the list of
things we were going to go over.
Kevin P. Miller: Well, he mentioned L-TRYPTOPHAN and I
thought I would follow-up.
Narrator: As the Producer tried to get an answer from the
deputy commissioner of the FDA, Mr. Taylor seemingly lost his
patience with the tone of the interview.
Michael R. Taylor: Why don't you turn the camera off so we
can talk . . . (LONG PAUSE). You know, I'm happy to talk
about this but I don't want to spend the whole morning on it.
. .
Narrator: But of course, Mr. Taylor was anything BUT happy
to discuss the safety record of Prozac versus the amino acid
L-TRYPTOPHAN--which the FDA banned outright when Prozac was
approved by the agency. And it is important to note that the
Food and Drug Administration has assigned Mr. Taylor's wife--
Christine Lewis-Taylor--to World Health Organization, where
she is now chairwoman of the ``the Nutrient Risk Assessment''
project.
Jim Turner: I don't think you can say that anybody from the
FDA has ever been a friend of dietary supplements. Anybody .
. . They are friends of the classical reductionist scientific
system that is based on cause and effect and doing a bunch of
huge costly studies which are the backbone of the
pharmaceutical industry which are the driving of the force of
our health care system which is driving us into bankruptcy
and killing between 200,000-700,000 people a year.
FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): Some of them honestly
believe in the useless medication. More, however, are the
bunkum artists, without pity or conscience, willing to risk
the lives of fellow human beings to line their own pockets.''
Narrator: Institutional hypocrisy and bias are endemic at
the Agency. In fact, the FDA has made no secret of its'
intentions to harmonize the U.S. vitamin and mineral
standards with Codex, thereby reducing the dosages of common
vitamins and minerals to ridiculously low levels. They've
said so before Congress, in the National Register, and
even on their own Web site.
Turner: That system is not a good system and the dietary
supplement guideline the vitamin and mineral guideline mimics
the ideas of that system and tries to push them onto the
international stage for vitamins and minerals. Bad thinking
all the way around.
Robert Verkerk, Ph.D: We are at a stage in society when a
large number of people, consumers and patients, are waking up
to the fact that the healthcare system that they've placed
their trust in for decades, is not delivering the healthcare
they need. They're beginning to appreciate that very often if
they
[[Page E1651]]
have major diseases, like cancer or heart disease, that the
so-called ``solution'' to these diseases is, in fact, killing
them.
FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): Today, all new drugs
must be proved safe and effective (Vioxx, Celebrex images)
before they can be marketed. In other words, the medicine
must be safe--and do what's claimed for it.''
Robert Verkerk, Ph.D: And this is why we see this
incredible growth in consumer demand for natural products.
And of course, just as the consumer is starting to make
decisions about what they want to do in healthcare, the
regulators have decided, with a lot of pressure from big
industry to say, ``You can't have it--it's reserved for us.''
Narrator: When the WTO--the world trade organization,
became a reality in the 1990s, the power of codex was
heightened immeasurably. This new worldwide body--devoted
solely to the hannonization of trade standards, gave Codex
the enforcement capability that had eluded it for decades.
Two U.S. Congressmen--a Democrat and a Republican--have a
philosophical divide on free trade, but agree completely on
the dangers of the WTO and Codex.
Rep. Ron Paul: The WTO is said to be set up for free trade.
I happen to like free trade. I like low tariffs and I like
goods and services flowing across borders.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: Since economics in college I was always
skeptic of the whole theory of free trade and it always
crystallized around the NAFTA and WTO Agreements.
Rep. Ron Paul: I am a champion of national sovereignty, so
I do not like the idea of getting involved with what the
Founders called 'entangling alliances.'
Rep. Peter DeFazio: I remember talking to Mickey Cantor the
President's special trade representative and I studied a
little bit and I said I can not understand how we are going
to bind ourselves to this agreement which has a secret
dispute resolution process, which has no rules regarding
conflict of interest and they will essentially pre-empt U.S.
laws
Rep. Ron Paul: But then when you go to the next step of
becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, it means
to me that we as a people and as a Congress, we give up too
much of our responsibilities and prerogatives.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: And he said no no no you don't
understand. They can't pre-empt our laws. I said, you're
right, they just can fine us for having our laws and we can
pay for perpetual fines because we have laws that protect
consumers of the environment or we can repeal our laws.
Rep. Ron Paul: But now we are talking about turning over to
a world organization that is going to force harmonization.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: And so it's working as designed as far
as they're concerned, which is to protect corporate interests
and overrule governments and stick it to consumers.
Rep. Ron Paul: And they'll do under the name of free trade
and globalization and pretend that they are on the side of
freedom. But actually they are not--they are on the side of
regulations and special interests and protection of certain
big corporations.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: If there is a higher corporate good to
be served by breaking the law and having the FDA work with
the CODEX and drag the U.S. into this nightmare then they're
all for it and they are doing it.
Rep. Ron Paul: So we do what the WTO tells us and that's
why I am very leery of the WTO and I just soon we get out of
the WTO.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: This would be the ultimate of
government reaching into our health lives which would be
unbelievable, not even our government, some bureaucratic,
diffuse, multinational secretive government.
Rep. Ron Paul: It's the power in the WTO that we have to
deal with ultimately . . . and I don't like the trend.
Narrator: On Capitol Hill, legislators are now debating the
merits of yet another trade agreement called CAFTA--the
Central American Free Trade Agreement. This latest Trojan
Horse was wheeled into Washington as a saviour for a
faltering economy. But as consumers in Europe could confirm,
it will only lead to more backroom deals--deals that could
spell the end of health freedom as we know it.
John Hammell, IAHF: Now, people think that that could never
happen here. Probably at one time people in England thought
that would never happen there, and yet their government
ignored over a million signatures on petitions on this issue
saying, ``Sorry guys, we are now a member of the European
Union, and we must harmonize to European law.'' If we aren't
careful in our hemisphere the same thing will happen as a
result of the free trade area of the Americas (FTAA).
Narrator: But the trend towards the WTO, NAFTA, and now
CAFTA being used to harmonize laws and regulations to favor
pharmaceutical interests, has long been a reality in the
European Union. German representatives at Codex began to push
the idea of creating ``safe upper limits'' on vitamins and
minerals, and this was favored in the UK until Dr. Robert
Verkerk and numerous others began orchestrating a precise
legal, scientific and public relations strategy to stop it.
His organization, the Alliance for Natural Health brought a
landmark legal challenge to the EU Food Supplements
Directive. In April 2005, The Advocate General in the
European Courts declared that the EU Directive should be
declared `invalid' under EU law. In July of 2005, UK and
European consumers will discover the fate of this legal
battle--and it is anything but a sure win.
Julian Whitaker, MD: What's coming down the line from Codex
and from Europe is very disturbing. First, you've got 450
million people over there. Secondly, they have the most
restrictive nutrient access of any of the free world. Third,
you just had a woman in France arrested . . . and is now
undergoing trial . . . for selling 500 mg vitamin C tablets.
Narrator: Between the draconian regulations of the EU
Supplement directive and the ominous Codex guidelines which
will be voted on in July 2005, there is little doubt that
health freedom lies in the balance--in Europe, in America,
and throughout the world.
Julian Whitabker, MD: The Whitaker Health Freedom
Foundation is supporting this movement in Europe . . .
because there's no question (that if) we stop it in Europe,
its effect on the United States will be less. And anyone who
thinks that Codex or the European Union or the World Trade
Organization . . . when it comes to their restrictive
policies in Europe is not going to have an effect on the
United States is crazy . . . You've got 450 million people
over there. They have enormous trade with us. They deal in
steel, in textiles, et cetera, and if they are upset with our
libertarian policies regarding nutrient supplements, it's
going to affect other economic systems. Now, we might have
sovereign protection, but good gosh that will fly away at an
instance with the stroke of a pen if a trade agreement is
challenged . . . What's happening in Europe, just like the
trade winds, is coming our way. And no one can argue in a
reasonable fashion why that is not going to happen. That is
happening.
Narrator: It has been said many times that democracy is the
dream of all who are oppressed . . . the hope of those
imprisoned by fear or injustice. But the sad truth . . . that
which is almost too sad to acknowledge . . . is that the
betrayal of democracy began long ago when profit replaced the
will of the people . . . and corporate lobbyists became the
masters of the universe.
Rep. Peter DeFazio: Alarm bells are going off everywhere.
The American people are way ahead of the Congress and figured
this out and it is only a matter of time until congress is
beaten into coming around on these issues. But if we don't do
it soon it may be too late.
Narrator: If it is true what a great leader once said, that
``Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about
things that matter,'' then freedom has already begun to
atrophy because of our inaction. Slowly, sovereign rights
fade away, as surely as the ink on an old Declaration is
removed by time.
The pursuit of Happiness . . . the promise of equality . .
. of personal choice . . . are chipped away by complacency .
. . and, over time, become barely visible in the world around
us. If we had treasured it more, some say, if we demanded
government cooperation--not interference--if we had exercised
our freedoms every day, every week--just like the forces
of power and money have done . . . If . . .
If only.
Gerald Kessler: I think we should all get together and
fight for our rights. I think that these are God-given
rights. I think that this was a legacy that was given to us
at the beginning of time . . . and we should fight like crazy
so that people can maintain their rights, from now and
forever.
Robert Verkerk, PhD: There are some who say that this is a
battle that cannot be won, we are David--they are the
Goliath. But it is too important to sit this out and let
multinational corporations and regulatory agencies decide
which freedoms we will be able to enjoy. From Africa to Asia
to Europe to the Americas we must stand together now for
future generations.
Narrator: This, then, is your call to action . . . it is
one of enlightened self-interest . . . a righteous cause that
even the high priests of profit cannot defeat. It is a real
drug war . . . a fight for medical freedom . . . a struggle
for human rights.
Joseph Bassett--And so you get the government you deserve
if you don't speak up . . . the only way to have good
government . . . is if the citizens stand up, and they're not
doing it. They have to stand up and be counted . . . and if
you put enough effort, the good guys win. It needs to be done
. . .
Narrator: Modern medicine has led us to Babylon . . . and a
wasteland of expensive and often ineffective options, If we
do not act--if we become silent--governments will be free to
replace the teachings of all ages with toxic lies. Timeless
medicines--foods and herbs with which we have evolved--culled
from thousands of years of collected wisdom--will be swept
away--crushed under the myopic weight of corporate greed.
Yet we often forget how much power we actually wield--and
that we are the creators of our own place on this planet.
Amid the sea of faces, there is an honorable cartel forming .
. . forming one for the benefit of mankind.
FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): You must join the
battle by protecting yourself--and your family from health
fraud. When you're in trouble that's not always easy. But in
the end, being victimized can be far worse. It can mean not
only your money, but your life . . .
Credits: Kevin P. Miller, Writer/Producer.
[[Page E1652]]
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