Political Quotes

“I have an amendment at the desk. This legislation before us would cut the food safety budget of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by $87 million below FY 2011 and $205 million below the president's FY 2012 budget request. At a time when we are witnessing one of the deadliest E. coli outbreaks ever overseas in Europe, the House stands ready to cut funding for our food safety systems. This is indefensible and why I am offering an amendment that will which takes $49 million from several administrative accounts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and transfers them to FDA for the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), of which I am the author. Specifically, this amendment cuts $5 million from the Departmental Administration account, $20 million from the Agriculture Buildings and Facilities and Rental Payments account, $10 million from administrative expenses under the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund, $4 million from administrative expenses under the Rural Housing Insurance Fund, and $10 million from the Foreign Agricultural Service. I want to make clear that the offsets I am offering are difficult, and not accounts which I would cut in normal circumstances. However, these are not normal circumstances, and the draconian cuts already made by this legislation to the food safety budget leave me with no other choice.…”