Gus Bilirakis: “The Food Quality Protection Act is more than just an important reform initiative. It is, as others have already said…”

“The Food Quality Protection Act is more than just an important reform initiative. It is, as others have already said, the culmination of intensive bipartisan negotiations and, as we have heard here today, has the strong support of Members on both sides of the aisle. The high level of support for this bill is actually not very surprising when we stop to think about it. Food safety reform has been a primary focus of Congress for more than a decade. That is because for farmers, for processors, manufacturers and of course for consumers the zero risk standard of the Delaney clause has served to freeze 1950 science into law. When the Delaney clause was enacted in 1958, the body of scientific knowledge on cancer was very limited. Of course we have made tremendous strides, thank God, in detecting and fighting cancer but our pesticide regulations have not been allowed to keep pace with scientific advances. As a result, it is essential that we adopt a modern consistent standard for determining the safety of our food supply.”