Roy Blunt

Eighty-three million?

Well, you and I both have learned a lot more about this than we would have ever expected to learn.

And again, for the rest of this year for the FDA budget, the user fee sequester is $83 million. So this is a big amount of money.

Assuming we went forward with the Budget Control Act, would you be supportive of the user fee categories being exempt from sequester?

Now I would think, and I would be pleased to have your comments on this, that there is an argument to be made on the manufacturing side where a compounder is making a significant quantity of a compounded product to then be sold, as opposed…

Right. One of the few products we don't grow in our State, and I think Arkansas, is sugar beets.

So you are going to double the comment period?

Well, I think it is very important how you define the role you want to play for the FDA in the future so that this doesn't later become: We have the right to go in and check on every pharmacist in America and how they filled every…

The $3 million that you would expect to commit between now and the end of this fiscal year on drug compounding, under what authority would you be getting more involved or do you need legislation to get involved?

As I understand it, the Department of Agriculture is involved at deciding what products can be planted and grown, and then you come in at some point and decide what the potential food uses of those might be, as opposed to other uses?

Well, thank you, Chairman Pryor.

I am hoping that you are looking at that extension, and I will be glad for some follow-up on that as well.

Well, my thought on this would be to let us draw this line as appropriately and tightly as we can, if you really want to get this done, as opposed to broaden the scope to the point that so many people are so concerned that nothing happens.

On maybe the biggest issue that we will need to work together on regarding the budget is getting the request in synch with what you need now.

I heard, I thought, two pretty different views of that. One was on the testing of GMO foods, he said the testing was somewhere between slim and none, and slim has left town.

I was opposed to that at the end of our discussions last year and probably will be again this year.

I think the industry is growing more concerned that there might be a lot of conflicting State laws, and some Federal definitions that were overriding would be helpful there.

And your overall shortage in these areas between now and September 30 would be less than the amount of money you think you need to complete the year?

I do want to mention specifically Senator Lautenberg, who was certainly no--I think there is no bigger advocate for rail travel, passenger rail, or the Northeast rail corridor than Senator Lautenberg has been.

I want that to be as safe as it can possibly be, but I don't want us to lead people to believe that it's less safe than it is.

There's no overriding principle of fairness if it's a bad weather day.

What we're preserving overtime for is exactly those sorts of situations--bad weather days.

So how much did you----

I thank the chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thanks, to you and Senator Wicker, for holding this hearing.