Political Quotes

“Mr. President, if I were to ask you ``How did you start your day?'' I would imagine you would have your own answer. Most people would say: Oh, I made a cup of coffee. I took the dog out for a walk. I went for a run. Another answer might come to mind: Oh, I took my vitamin tablet, my dietary supplement. In fact, 77 percent of people in America take a dietary supplement, including me. I take a multivitamin tablet. I don't know if it does me any good. I figure it won't do me any harm. I believe in it. I believe Americans ought to be able to make that choice. I also believe that Americans who take vitamins, minerals, and herbs for their health and well-being have a right to know what is in them-- pretty basic. Many people assume if that product is sold in the United States of America, somebody has inspected it, and it must be safe. Unfortunately, that is not always true. The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate dietary supplements and take dangerous products off the market, but it lacks information that it needs to use this authority effectively. The Food and Drug Administration can't even tell us how many dietary supplements are sold in America. They give us a range: somewhere between 50,000 different dietary supplements and 80,000--50,000 and 80,000--a gap of 30,000 products? What is going on here? They don't even know how many products are being sold, let alone what they are or what is in them. Let's go back to 1994.…”