David Obey: “How many times have we all heard; ``The government is too blasted big. Get the government out of our lives.'' I bet my…”

“How many times have we all heard; ``The government is too blasted big. Get the government out of our lives.'' I bet my colleagues have heard it a lot. Yet the first time that we have an outbreak of disease someplace, the first time that people die from contaminated food, all of a sudden people say, ``Where is the government? What are they doing? Why don't they get off their duffs? Why aren't they protecting the public interest?'' Well, there is very good reason for that. It is because we are not providing the resources necessary to provide an absolutely safe source of food in this country. The purpose of this amendment is to, over a 3-year period of time, bring us to where the FDA says we should be in protecting the public health of this country. When we had subcommittee hearings earlier in the year, here is what FDA said in response to questions: ``The inspection coverage of food manufacturers, particularly high-risk manufacturers, has been inadequate over the past several years.''”