Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, we all share the view that the infant formula shortage is a crisis. The stories that we have all heard-- mothers and fathers struggling to find formula, the images of empty store shelves--are heartbreaking. We have all heard from constituents all over this country that parents are scared. They can't find the product, and they are scared that they are going to have a product that may put their child in danger. Mr. Speaker, we need to address two areas. We need to address the immediate crisis to get product on the shelves as soon as we can, which is what this bill does tonight, along with other measures that the administration is taking. There are some very serious underlying issues that we face. The question arises, how did we get here? How did this happen? One of the biggest issues and concerns is the whole issue of the consolidation of the industry. There are only four manufacturers of infant formula in the United States, and when one of the four has produced a contaminated product, knowingly putting our babies at risk, yes, and they fought the FDA on really calling for a recall. The FDA, again, had to go to district court to be able to move to a consent decree to talk about cleaning up the mess in Sturgis, Michigan. When that product came off the shelf, 43 percent of the product was gone because that is the piece that Abbott has. They have cornered the market.…”