Saxby Chambliss: “as an original cosponsor of S. 510, I am very disappointed that I cannot support tonight's cloture vote or the final…”

“as an original cosponsor of S. 510, I am very disappointed that I cannot support tonight's cloture vote or the final passage of this bill. Since the bill's introduction and throughout the HELP Committee mark-up process, there has been strong bipartisan cooperation to craft legislation that strikes the right balance between industry practices and FDA oversight to ensure the safest food supply possible. Unfortunately, the Senate will not have the opportunity to vote for S. 510 as it passed the HELP Committee, nor will Senators have the opportunity to offer amendments to improve the bill. Compounding my concerns is the uncertainty about the opportunity to have an open, transparent conference with our colleagues in the House of Representatives at this late hour of the legislative session. Instead, we are faced with voting for S. 510 with new language that was added at the 11th hour which creates a loophole in the Federal food safety system. The newly added language, referred to as the 'Tester amendment,' creates an exemption for small farms and business operations through an arbitrary size and distance threshold--neither of which have any basis in science or risk.”