[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15878]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              FOOD SAFETY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have worked for this entire Congress on 
food safety. I have had a number of people from Nevada--about a dozen 
people--who have talked about their foodborne illnesses, children whose 
growth is stunted their entire life. One young woman spent 11 months in 
the hospital as a result of eating tainted spinach. All over America 
this is happening.
  We have food safety laws that are inadequate and causing people to 
get sick because the food is not checked closely enough. Senators 
Durbin, Harkin, chairman of the committee, and Enzi have worked hard to 
get something done. I have talked with Senator McConnell. He thinks 
something should be done. We thought we finally had it worked out. We 
could take care of this, but Senator Coburn has said no. He wants it 
paid for a different way. We spent a whole Congress on this 
legislation. Of course, at the last minute, he comes in, and likely we 
are not going to be able to get this done before we go home for the 
elections.
  What a sad thing for our country. People are dying as a result of 
these problems with food. It is a shame we cannot get this done. We 
have almost 400 matters that have passed the House of Representatives, 
and we cannot deal with them here because the Republicans say no. That 
is not the way to do business. In years past, these things would have 
gone through very easily.
  We should be concerned about something as important as this issue, 
and the focus should be--and deserves to be--on the person who is 
holding up this legislation. It is too bad. There are all kinds of 
excuses, but excuses do not do the trick. People have come to see me 
who have been deathly ill. All that could have been avoided. The 
legislation would do that. It is bipartisan in nature. It should be 
completed.

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