[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                H.R. 759 WILL ENSURE A SAFE FOOD SUPPLY

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Energy and Commerce 
Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, I have held 
nine hearings to examine the safety and security of our Nation's food 
supply over the past 2 years. A recent peanut butter salmonella 
outbreak is just the latest in a string of food-borne illnesses that 
affects 76 million Americans every year. For this reason, I joined with 
my colleagues, Chairmen Dingell and Pallone, to introduce H.R. 759, the 
Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2009.
  H.R. 759 would give the FDA not only the financial resources, but 
also the regulatory tools to ensure the safety of food we eat and the 
drugs we take. If this legislation would have been in place, the FDA 
would have had the authority, as well as the resources, to prevent the 
current salmonella outbreak from occurring, tools such as resources for 
increased inspections, access to inspection records, mandatory recall 
authority and strong penalties that will require testing facilities to 
send their results to the FDA.
  Congress faces an ambitious agenda in the coming months, but more 
than 600 illnesses and nine deaths linked to the current salmonella 
outbreak underscore the importance of wasting no time in enacting this 
legislation.

                          ____________________