Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I commend the Senate for unanimously adopting my amendment to address Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, concerns with section 708 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. I especially thank Senators Harkin and Enzi--the distinguished Chairman and Ranking Member of the HELP Committee--for working with me to protect the American public's ability to access important health and safety information under FOIA. My amendment improves the bill by allowing the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, to obtain important information about drug inspections and drug investigations undertaken by foreign governments, while at the same time ensuring that the American public has access to information about potential health and safety dangers. Specifically, the amendment narrows the scope of the FOIA exemption in the original bill to No. 1 cover only information obtained from foreign government agencies and No. 2 clarify that the information to be withheld must be voluntarily provided to the FDA pursuant to a written Memorandum of Understanding. The amendment also preserves the right of the Congress to obtain this information. Lastly, the amendment places a 3 year time limit for withholding information pursuant to the exemption, unless a different time period is specified by the foreign government agency--so that the information will not automatically be shielded from the public indefinitely.…”