Joe Barton: “most of us are too young to remember, but in the early days of the movies there was a series of movies based on the…”

“most of us are too young to remember, but in the early days of the movies there was a series of movies based on the ``Perils of Pauline.'' Pauline was a heroine who always got tied to the railroad track, and just as the train was bearing down on her the hero would come out and rescue her for another adventure in the next movie reel. Well, this bill before us has kind of experienced the Perils of Pauline. It started out in a tremendous positive bipartisan spirit here in the House. Chairman Dingell and Subcommittee Chairman Pallone on the majority and Mr. Deal and myself on the minority side and our colleagues in the rank-and-file worked together. We reported a bill, and I don't remember how many votes it got on the House floor, but I believe it was over 400. It got over to the other body, and they modified it in some ways that were somewhat different than the House bill. The negotiations broke down, and it looked for a while this week that the Food and Drug Administration was going to have to send out reduction in force notices to over 2,000 employees at the Food and Drug Administration. But thanks to the tremendous leadership of Chairman Dingell and Subcommittee Chairman Pallone and the help of people like Congressman Waxman and others on the majority side, we've been able to come back together and create a unified House position and work with our friends in the other body.”