Political Quotes

“I wish to thank Chairman Kohl and Senator Blunt for their hard work on this bill. They had to make tough choices because of their tight allocation. I commend them for the choices they made and agree with them. They have my full support for this bill. I especially want to thank them for increasing the Food and Drug Administration's budget. They provided $2.5 billion which is $50 million over this year's funding level. Twenty-five cents for every dollar spent by consumers is for FDA-regulated products, over $1 trillion worth of goods bought each year. This funding increase will strengthen our food safety infrastructure so that the FDA can meet its increased responsibilities. It gives the FDA new defense capabilities to hold imported and domestic foods to the same standards. It also will help Federal, State, and local officials prevent and more efficiently detect food safety problems. Finally, it increases the FDA and State and local workforce capacity to prevent deadly outbreaks. Employees at the FDA are on the front lines every day to stop food safety outbreaks in their tracks and get unsafe foods off of supermarket shelves. We rely on the FDA more than ever to make sure the drugs and medical devices we depend upon are safe and effective. I have been a longtime fighter for the FDA. I have fought for years for the right facilities and the right resources. I will continue to fight for these hard-working employees.…”