[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 190 (Wednesday, December 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Dietary Supplement Listing Act

  Mr. President, Congress has some big decisions to make in just 2 or 3 
weeks. The continuing resolution which funds our government is about to 
expire. One of those decisions will be whether to include important 
measures to ensure the Food and Drug Administration fulfills its public 
health mission.
  You see, when we passed the last CR in September, we reauthorized the 
user fees that are necessary to fund this critical Agency. However, the 
package did not include commonsense changes in the law--bipartisan 
changes--that really would make FDA a more effective Agency, so we 
continue to pursue them this month.
  One of those measures was the Dietary Supplement Listing Act, a 
bipartisan bill that Senator Braun of Indiana and I introduced in 
April.
  More than 75 percent of people living in America, myself included--my 
family too--use a dietary supplement such as a vitamin or a mineral. 
However, many assume, when reaching for that supplement bottle in the 
medicine cabinet, that the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. 
Government knows what is in that bottle and knows that it is for sale. 
That is not always the case.
  Dietary supplement companies are not required to disclose to the Food 
and Drug Administration the ingredients in their products. Let me 
repeat that. Dietary supplement companies are not required by the Food 
and Drug Administration to disclose the ingredients in their products. 
They aren't even required to register that their products are for sale 
in the United States. An obvious problem exists.
  How can the FDA really regulate this market for the safety of 
American consumers when it doesn't know what is on the market? It 
can't. It is impossible. So the legislation I have with Republican 
Senator Braun would require supplement companies to tell the FDA what 
products they put on the shelf and what is in them--just that basic. It 
is a simple fix that would improve the safety of the supplement market, 
and it would basically enhance quality companies selling quality 
dietary supplements. Others might be penalized by this; good companies 
would not.
  I am glad this legislation received an endorsement from the Council 
for Responsible Nutrition, one of the largest supplement trade 
associations in our Nation. They are speaking for the good guys.
  I want to emphasize that this is not a partisan idea. Polls show that 
9 out of 10 Americans believe that manufacturers should be required to 
list their products and their ingredients. Ninety percent of Americans 
believe it.
  In October, Scott Gottlieb and Mark McClellan, two Republican FDA 
Commissioners under Republican administrations, wrote that our 
legislation represents ``a once-in-a-generation reform.'' They 
concluded their article and said:

       Congress should seize this opportunity to achieve long-
     awaited reforms that modernize FDA's regulation, promote 
     innovation, and provide consumers greater assurance that the 
     products they use are safe and reliable.

  I understand that some oppose the inclusion of my bipartisan 
legislation in the yearend package. I am willing to work with any of 
them to overcome their resistance or to take their suggestions very 
seriously, but let's not move this package to fund the FDA and miss 
this opportunity. Consumers have waited long enough. The FDA needs to 
know what supplements are on the market and what their ingredients are 
to protect consumers. That is a bare minimum.