[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          RECOGNIZING THE FDA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the HELP 
Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now 
proceed to H. Con. Res 426.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 426) recognizing the 
     Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Health and 
     Human Services on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of 
     the passage of the Food and Drug Act for the important 
     service it provides the Nation.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, as we recognize the 100th anniversary of 
the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration, I would like to 
rise and express my concern about the current direction of this agency.
  There is no doubt that, since the agency's founding, the employees of 
the FDA have made an enormous contribution to protection the health of 
our Nation, and I believe that we should recognize the efforts of the 
thousands of civil servants who have helped to ensure the safety of our 
food and medicine.
  Yet while the FDA has long represented the gold standard of consumer 
protection, I am afraid that this standard is being tarnished by the 
current activities of the agency. Under this administration, we have 
seen ideology placed before science, and politics before the public 
health.
  Consider the way in which the FDA has sought to block wider access to 
Emergency Contraception, also known as Plan B, a tool that can prevent 
unintended pregnancy. Two successive FDA commissioners--Bush 
administration political appointees--blocked Plan B from being sold 
over the counter, overruling the FDA's medical experts, advisors, and 
the recommendations of over 70 organizations, induding the American 
Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The 
Government Accountability Office has confirmed that the FDA's 2004 
decision not to approve over-the-counter sales was politically 
motivated. And despite the years that have passed since the original 
recommendation to approve Plan B for over the counter use, we still 
have no action, other than delay after delay, on that recommendation.
  American women deserve an answer from the FDA. With Senator Patty 
Murray, I have placed a hold on the nomination of current acting 
Commissioner Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach's to lead this agency, and I 
will continue to hold the nomination of Dr. von Eschenbach until the 
FDA issues a decision on Plan B, yes or no.
  The FDA was founded in 1906 to protect the interests of the American 
consumer. One hundred years later, I fear that politics and ideology 
may triumph over the agency's original mission. I believe the best way 
to celebrate the FDA centennial is to make a commitment to reforms that 
will restore this agency's reputation as the gold standard of consumer 
protection.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 426) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.

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