Sanford Bishop: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank her for her passion and compassion in confronting this issue. As…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank her for her passion and compassion in confronting this issue. As chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, I am glad to support Chairwoman DeLauro as we address the infant formula crisis facing America. We are working toward ensuring that parents and other caregivers have access to safe and affordable nutrition for the babies in their care. The emergency funds allocated by this bill will help safely expedite the inspection of the country's infant formula supply and quickly get it back on the shelves of stores across the country. But we must also address how such a crisis came to pass in the first place. How did a manufacturer, a company responsible for over 40 percent of a Nation's infant formula supply, have an unclean facility? How was this situation left unchecked? How did it lead to hospitalization and the death of babies? Congress will be scrutinizing this crisis with the FDA and manufacturers in the days ahead. I look forward to my subcommittee hosting the first hearing in this regard with FDA Commissioner Robert Califf tomorrow morning. I have often stood on this very floor to tout the importance of the FDA and how it touches every single family and every life in America. Today is a stark reminder of that fact.…”