James M. Jeffords: “first, let me very briefly review where we are. There has been considerable debate up to this point. I think it is…”

“first, let me very briefly review where we are. There has been considerable debate up to this point. I think it is important for me as the chairman of the committee to remind people as to where we are. We have before us a 152-page bill, which is the first real overhaul of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in the last 30 years. We have taken little tweaks here and there, but it has not been thoroughly reviewed and brought into the modern world. Out of that 152 pages, we are now spending most of the time debating on 2 or 3 pages. That is why the minority ranking member has praised the bill, but then picked on one--basically, we are here because of one provision, which is 404. On some standards, we cannot agree on the precise wording. So everybody agrees on almost all of this bill. The amendment that is being offered by the Senator from Illinois does get into a very, very important area, and we do not disagree with that. We praise him for having given us the opportunity to review, to restudy, and determine as to whether or not the provision he is striking with his amendment and replacing is necessary or appropriate. We have concluded--I say ``we'' because I am sure that Senator Kennedy joins me in this statement--that we adequately take care of the conflict of interest in this bill.”