    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [October 25, 1994]
    [Pages 1872-1873]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of
    1994
    October 25, 1994

        Today I am pleased to sign S. 784, the ``Dietary Supplement Health
    and Education Act of 1994.'' After several years of intense efforts,
    manufacturers, experts in nutrition, and legislators, acting in a
    conscientious alliance with consumers at the grassroots level, have
    moved successfully to bring common sense to the treatment of dietary
    supplements under regulation and law.
        More often than not, the Government has been their ally. And the
    private market has responded to this development with the manufacture of
    an increasing variety of safe supplements.
        But in recent years, the regulatory scheme designed to promote the
    interests of consumers and a healthful supply of good food has been used
    instead to complicate choices consumers have made to advance their
    nutritional and dietary goals. With perhaps the best of intentions

    [[Page 1873]]

    agencies of government charged with protecting the food supply and the
    rights of consumers have paradoxically limited the information to make
    healthful choices in an area that means a great deal to over 100 million
    people.
        And so, an historic agreement was finally reached in the Congress
    this year that balances their interests with the Nation's continued
    interest in guaranteeing the quality and safety of foods and products
    available to consumers. This agreement was embodied in S. 784,
    legislation sponsored in the Senate by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator
    Tom Harkin, in the House by Congressman Bill Richardson, and passed with
    the help of Senator Edward Kennedy, Congressman John Dingell,
    Congressman Henry Waxman, and scores of cosponsors in the House and
    Senate.
        Simply said, the legislation amends the Federal Food, Drug, and
    Cosmetic Act to establish new standards for the regulation of dietary
    supplements including vitamins, minerals, and herbal remedies.
        The passage of this legislation speaks to the determination of the
    legislators involved, and I appreciate their work. But most important,
    it speaks to the diligence with which an unofficial army of
    nutritionally conscious people worked democratically to change the laws
    in an area deeply important to them. In an era of greater consciousness
    among people about the impact of what they eat on how they live, indeed,
    how long they live, it is appropriate that we have finally reformed the
    way Government treats consumers and these supplements in a way that
    encourages good health.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,
    October 25, 1994.

    Note: S. 784, approved October 25, was assigned Public Law No. 103-417.
    This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    October 26.