Tom Harkin

Explain that asset bubble as it regards this.

We need someone with these skills, this background and experience, and these values to lead the Commission.

The capability that we are discussing is vital to our Nation's defense. It would also be a critical source of innovation, developing novel countermeasures faster and cheaper. I will also work with Senators during conference.

While the primary purpose of this funding is to provide meaningful paid work experiences for at risk youth, educational enrichment, necessary skills training, and support services that enable young people to participate and succeed in…

Absolutely, it is essential that the workforce services provided through this legislation, are delivered through the most effective means possible, ensuring that the unemployed and underemployed are provided with relevant employment and…

Yes, the Senator's understanding is correct. I included a provision in this recovery bill that reinforces the requirement in the WIA to use adult State grant funding to serve certain priority populations, such as those with low incomes or…

Access to adequate and affordable credit is vital to our Nation's farmers and ranchers--particularly now. Like many people across the Nation, farmers are feeling the impact of the economic downturn. The decline in commodity prices, high…

I am concerned, Senator, that unless you address this structural problem where Dr. Sundlof is in charge of policy, but you have got someone over at the Office of Regulatory Affairs who actually manages who gets inspected in the food…

If there had been a HACCP plan in effect at this plant, how confident are you that that would have prevented this salmonella contamination?

Well, why not just--since the food component at FDA, and I will ask Dr. Sundlof, maybe he doesn't know, it is a smaller part of FDA than the whole drug regime is--why don't you just move that over to the Food Safety Inspection Service?

I think one of the things, we have got to close that loophole on requirement of reporting of internal findings of pathogens.

We have for far too long ignored our public health sector in this country.

Right there, now they did not have to report to the FDA the findings of salmonella.

I will tell you, it is getting more and more around the country.

Well, I don't know. I am not certain I have a firm view on that myself, either.

Maybe we just need one single food safety agency.

I am going to write a formal letter to you at CDC outlining this and asking how you would structure such a system and when it could be implemented, how much would it cost, do you have the wherewithal to do it.

It seems the two of them together really does cry out for some kind of better coordination, stiffening our laws.

Are you telling me that FDA knew that there was this plant in Texas that was not being inspected by the Texas Department of Agriculture?

Food safety in America has too often become a hit or miss gamble.

I know I have gone over. I just have one more thing I want to tie down here.

I would like to request that you make those available to this committee.

We have an obligation, I think, to the American people to really look at the public health structure.

Well, what happened then?

To say that food safety in this country is a patchwork system is just giving it too much credit.