Expressing support for designation of the month of September as "National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month".

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2749) to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous matter into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, this is a remarkable piece of bipartisan work. I want to pay tribute to my dear friend Mr. Barton, the ranking minority member of the committee; my good friend, the chairman of the committee, for his outstanding leadership on this, Mr. Waxman; and also Mr. Pallone, as chairman of the subcommittee, for their leadership.

I want to tell the House how important the labors of my dear friend Mr. Stupak have been in the Oversight Investigations Committee in creating the basis from which this legislation can move forward. This has been a piece of legislation which moved unanimously out of the committee. It is something which we would hope this House would always be able to emulate.

I want to congratulate Representatives Sutton, Nathan Deal, and John Shimkus for their labors, and the outstanding staff on both sides of the Commerce Committee.

I want to express my appreciation to Collin Peterson and Mr. Cardoza of California for their labors, and Representative DeLauro and President Obama and the White House food safety group.

The legislation is supported by the Consumers Union, the Centers for Science and Public Interest, the National Consumers League, and a large number of other organizations, including the Grocery Manufacturers, GMA, and United Fresh Produce. Jeanie Ireland and my good friend Virgil Miller have worked very hard at the staff level, and they deserve thanks.

This is a piece of legislation that will stop Americans being killed by bad foods. It is a piece of legislation that will see to it that the Food and Drug Administration has both the authority and the funds to address not only American foods but foods being imported from places like China. It will stop harmful seafood, E. coli in spinach, tainted peppers from Mexico, and a large number of other things.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Mr. Waxman, whose leadership in this matter has been appreciated.

Mr. Speaker, I will have a full rebuttal for the remarks of the gentleman who has just spoken.

I yield 1 minute at this time to my dear friend, the chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

If the gentleman will yield, I want to tell the House how important the labors of the gentleman have been, and also those of Mr. Barton and Mr. Deal. We owe a great debt to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I am very delighted at this time to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who has done so much to make the investigations which have brought us to the point where people understand the need for this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

If the gentleman will yield, I want to compliment the gentleman on his comments and I want to praise him for his valuable and important contribution to the legislation. As he has said, this is how legislation should be done, bipartisan; and we have gone across the aisle. But we have also gone between committees, working with the distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Committee. I commend the gentleman and thank him.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to my distinguished friend, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. DeGette), a Member who has worked very hard on this legislation for a long time and who was one of the original sponsors and has been a valuable contributor to the process of bringing it forward.

(Ms. DeGETTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, just for administrative purposes, does my friend on the Republican side have a sufficiency of time? I speak about Mr. Barton.

I will try to see if we can share, if it is necessary.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield to one of the original sponsors of the legislation, the distinguished gentlelady who has done much work to get this legislation to the floor, the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Sutton) 1 minute.

At this time I yield 1 minute to the distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Committee's subcommittee on food safety, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), with thanks and appreciation for his good work.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), one of the great leaders in food safety, a distinguished member of the Committee on Agriculture, a man who has worked very closely with me and with the others who have been working on this, including the distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Committee.

With a great deal of pleasure and pride, at this time I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Peterson), my good friend, the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Agriculture who has worked so hard not only on food safety but also with us to make this bill something which is acceptable to the House, to him and to American agriculture.

I yield the gentleman 30 seconds.

Would the gentleman yield to me?

I would just observe to my good friend that we have talked about this before, and I have assured the gentleman that we will continue to work together to address the concerns that he and the very able gentleman from Florida (Mr. Putnam) have expressed their concerns about. It has been a privilege to work with the gentleman, and I thank him.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. Speaker, I am the last speaker on this side, so I am going to reserve my time, but I want to yield 2 minutes to my dear friend, Mr. Barton. And I want to commend him for his courage, his decency, and the extraordinary way in which he has worked with the distinguished Agriculture Committee and its great chairman, and also with me and the Democrats. We are handling this bill the way it should be handled, in a proper bipartisan fashion, and I want to commend him.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time to close.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill. It has been worked on long and hard by three committees, including the Ways and Means. The chairman, Mr. Rangel, and subcommittee chairman, Mr. Levin, have been extremely cooperative in resolving questions between the two committees.

I would note that staff at all levels of our committee, in the minority and on the majority--Rachel Sher and Eric Flamm--have been of enormous value in these discussions.

The complaint made by my colleague about exclusion of Members I can't comment on. I can only say we have tried to include everybody in this process as much as we could, and we have brought in industry, which supports the bill. But more importantly--and I say this to my friend with affection and respect--the reason for a lot of the changes that they're talking about have been that, right up to the time that we have brought this bill to the floor, we have sought to see to it that we included everyone and took advantage of the wisdom of all the Members that we could possibly take advantage of.

The legislation will address from the point of origin to the consumer's table. It will enable us to get at unsafe foods, not just in this country, but in China, in India, and other places where these foods are coming in. It will provide Food and Drug with the resources they need to address these problems in terms of personnel and money. It will also keep their laboratories open. More importantly, it will see to it that the public comes first, and for the first time in years, know that the foods that we are bringing into this country and that are being made available to the American people are in fact safe. No major reviews of the food provisions of the Food and Drug Act have been done since 1938, and, as was wisely pointed out by my colleagues, some not back to 1912.

This is an important step which will protect the American people, who are today being killed, sickened, and hurt by unsafe foods brought in by unscrupulous people.

It will do something more than this. It will protect the American food industry, the processors, the manufacturers, and the growers, against unfair competition in places like China where they are adding melamine to food and delivering patently unsafe food.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of House Resolution 373, which I authored in order to raise awareness of hydrocephalus, a devastating neurological disorder which often leaves individuals and their families in constant fear of sudden, irreversible damage or even death. Hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, as most people refer to it, is a medical condition that results in abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid, otherwise called CSF, in the ventricles or cavities of the brain. Sadly, the prognosis for individuals afflicted with hydrocephalus is difficult to predict and is often fatal. Moreover, while this condition affects approximately 1 in every 500 births, as my colleague Mr. Clay said, very few people are even aware of this devastating condition.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is currently conducting research related to hydrocephalus prevention and treatment. However, more must be done at the community level to educate individual Americans about this surprisingly prevalent disorder. Recognizing the month of September as National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month will bring this disease to the public's attention and, I believe, will encourage the discussions necessary to more effectively address the devastating effects of this disease and provide support to families who live with it every day.

For example, currently the most common form of treatment for hydrocephalus involves the insertion of a shunt in order to maintain the flow of fluid from the brain. This outdated practice has been around now for almost 50 years and often results in complications that can jeopardize the life of the often very young child who is the patient. As one parent summarized for me, ``My son and all the other children who suffer from hydrocephalus are literally 12 to 15 hours away from irreversible damage, if not death, if a shunt failure was to go undetected or left untreated. This sometimes paralyzes parents, and there has got to be a better treatment out there, if not an

outright cure, we just have to find it.'' Mr. Speaker, I know you would agree we just have to find it.

That being said, I would like to share the thoughts of a mother whose daughter Ally developed hydrocephalus at 1 year of age. She sent this letter to my office in hopes that sharing it with our great Nation will develop greater awareness of the disease among the general public. And with greater research, she's confident that it could be diagnosed more accurately and treated more efficiently. We certainly hope so. This is her letter, Mr. Speaker:

``My name is Michelle Janson. We have a 9-year-old daughter Ally who developed hydrocephalus at 1 year of age. The cause of her congenital hydrocephalus allowed her to be eligible for a fairly new procedure called a third ventriculostomy. Although there was a lot of information at the time about shunts, very little was known about the third ventriculostomy. After we researched our options and interviewed several neurosurgeons, Ally underwent a third ventriculostomy on July 9, 2001.

``This year Ally has reached 8 years as one of the lucky few who have not encountered infections, revisions or malfunctions, as frequently seen with shunts. Although she does have other rare medical conditions to complicate things, she is leading a fairly normal childhood. She was the only one in her third grade class to be chosen to participate in the Young Authors Club and maintained straight A's throughout the school year, something many thought would be impossible.

``Several years ago we searched for a support group close to home that would provide our family with support and education about the condition. That's when we became involved with the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation. The visions of those involved have encouraged us to actively participate in educating, providing support and to raise funds for local communities and families in need. The founders, Michael and Kim Illions, have also been active with government officials such as you to initiate a resolution known as H.R. 373 to declare September National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.''

Mr. Speaker, before I close, I want to echo the comments that Michelle Janson makes about the vision that Michael and Kim Illions have for children and families living with hydrocephalus. I have had the privilege of getting to know this lovely couple and their beautiful baby boy named Cole through my work on this resolution. They have such optimism and faith, it just permeates everything they do and say. It's hard not to feel more hopeful when you are with great people like the Illions, and that's the kind of support that they provide other families who live with hydrocephalus and the kind of support that we all hope will be spread by this resolution today. I want to urge all of our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, to start spreading this hope today by taking a moment to learn more about hydrocephalus by visiting the Web site hydrocephaluskids.org. It's the Web site for the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation. Through increased awareness and education, we will take the steps that are needed to modernize the treatment of hydrocephalus and move toward a cure. I urge my colleagues to join myself and the 89 bipartisan cosponsors of House Resolution 373 in supporting the recognition of September as National Hydrocephalus Awareness Month.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from the State of New Jersey, Mr. Leonard Lance.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage of House Resolution 373.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Before we recognize Chairman Dingell, I would ask unanimous consent that Mr. Lucas, the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, control 10 minutes of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to yield 2 minutes to the ranking member of the Health Subcommittee, Mr. Deal of Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus).

(Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. Chairman, we could use another 2 to 3 minutes, if you have it.

I yield 2 minutes to the former Republican Conference chairman and probably future Governor of Florida (Mr. Putnam).

Mr. Speaker, I'm the last speaker on my side in support of the bill, so I'm going to reserve the balance of my time.

I want to inquire of the Chair, with his yielding, I have 4 minutes; is that correct?

Thank you, Chairman Dingell.

First, I want to acknowledge the strong staff work on both sides on this legislation. It has been a debate whether we would get the bill to the floor or whether Rachel Sher would have her baby first, and I am proud to report that we have gotten the bill to the floor. So we are birthing the food safety bill before she gives birth to another lovely human being.

What our minority leader said just a minute ago is absolutely true in the technical sense about different versions of the bill being introduced at different times, but that is not all of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say in his radio commentary. Those different versions have been introduced in the last day because of changes that I have asked for and other Republican Members have asked for to improve the bill at the request of Congressman Lucas and his staff on the Agriculture Committee. We have been improving the bill to make it more supportive of agriculture.

I want to read part of a letter that we just got today from the Sheep Industry, the Cattlemen's Association and the Pork Council. It says: ``America's livestock and poultry producers support the tightening of language recognizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's authorities regarding products, facilities and farms raising animals from which meat and eggs are regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act or the Egg Products Inspection Act. There have also been great improvements made to the traceability language, the recordkeeping provisions, as well as a more targeted approach for the new authority granted to the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit or restrict the movement of food. We also appreciate the strengthening of language that requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consult with the Secretary of Agriculture.''

All of these changes were made at the suggestion of Congressman Lucas and his staff, working through myself and my staff, through Mr. Waxman and Mr. Dingell's staff.

This is a strong food safety bill. This is a necessary improvement to food

safety. We have had outbreaks in the last several years in the peanuts industry, in the pepper industry, and in seafood products that have been imported. We need to bring the FDA authority into the 21st century.

I want to specifically go through some of the things that we have done with regard to agriculture. This bill does not require farms to register with the FDA. Under section 415 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, farms are not considered facilities, therefore, they do not have to register with the FDA.

This bill does not require farms to pay a registration fee. This bill does not apply to livestock and poultry. This bill does not apply to USDA-regulated farms, facilities and products. This bill allows farms to be exempted from traceability requirements and greatly limits access to records. This bill exempts specifically grains and related commodities from produce standards. This bill does not apply to farmers markets.

So I understand that my friends on the Ag Committee did not have a legislative markup of this bill; they should have, I understand that. I have been in a situation in the Energy and Commerce Committee this year on the climate change bill and the health care bill where we on the Republican side have not been allowed to negotiate in the room. But on this bill, in this case, Chairman Waxman, Chairman Dingell, Chairman Stupak and Chairman Pallone have worked with myself and Mr. Deal and Mr. Shimkus and Mr. Walden and others. We have had an open, bipartisan process. We've had hearings going back to the prior Congress.

The process is fair on this bill. The product is fair on this bill. We do need an improved food safety bill.

I strongly recommend a ``yes'' vote on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

I yield myself 5 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I truly regret that I must rise in opposition to this legislation, H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.

Let me begin by saying that I believe our Nation has the safest food supply in the world. I also believe that we must continually examine our food production and regulatory system and look for ways to improve food safety. However, the bill before us today does little to accomplish the goal of enhancing food safety. One glaring example is the fact that the authors of the bill did not require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--``require'' being the operative phrase--to spend one additional penny on the inspection of food.

The bill before us today is the product of a flawed process. This is just another example of Federal power without the benefit of careful consideration. It is what we have come to expect from the majority leadership of the 111th Congress. We could point to the stimulus package, cap-and-trade, and soon the health care bill as examples of a blatant disregard for the legislative process and for the American people, for whom we work. As of last night, no one had seen a copy of this bill.

It is tragic that despite a clear jurisdictional claim, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee did not demand that the bill be referred, conduct hearings on its provisions and work at the committee's will to make improvements.

But this is not just a matter of jurisdiction between two committees. The real losers today are farmers, ranchers, and, yes, consumers. During a recent committee hearing on the general topic of food safety, not a single producer witness would support this bill in its current form. This is a stunning failure to fulfill our legislative responsibility.

One provision of particular concern would mandate that the Food and Drug Administration set on-farm production performance standards. For the first time, we would have the Federal Government prescribing how our farmers grow crops. Farming, the growing of crops and the raising of livestock, is one of the first organized activities pursued by man. We have been doing it for a very long time, and we have been doing it without the FDA.

New language to the bill would exclude row crop producers from FDA regulatory authority over growing and harvesting crops. Language was also approved that would relieve livestock producers from some of the burdens of the law. Although these are needed changes, they do not go far enough to make the bill acceptable.

This bill still leaves our Nation's fruit and vegetable producers subject to objectionable regulatory burdens.

There are other problems in the bill as well. New registration authorities for food processing facilities create what amounts to a Federal license to be in the food business. Hundreds of millions of dollars in associated fees represented by a new tax on food production, along with regulatory burdens, will increase the cost of food for consumers, increasingly forcing food production out of this country, unfortunately.

New quarantine authorities for FDA will undermine animal and plant inspection control programs that have been in place at USDA for decades.

The vast majority of these provisions, along with new penalties, record-keeping requirements, traceability, labeling, country-of-origin labeling, will do absolutely nothing to prevent food-borne disease outbreaks, but will do plenty to keep the Federal bureaucracy busy. These issues can be worked out through the normal legislative process, but only if there is a process.

Mr. Speaker, let me return to where I started. We have the safest food supply in the world. Anyone following current events knows that our food production system faces ongoing food safety challenges, and I stand ready to work with my colleagues to address these challenges. But this is not the way to create law.

We should not suspend the rules to pass this bill. Our Nation's farmers, ranchers and consumers deserve better, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio, the minority leader, Mr. Boehner.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).

I yield the entire sum to myself, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the chairman emeritus of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the ranking member, Mr. Barton. You were kind to help us. You were kind to work with us. But the bottom line is the minority party of the Ag Committee should not have to go to the Energy and Commerce committee to work on an ag-related section of the bill.

Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate you. But you shouldn't have had to have done it.

Mr. Speaker, a series of food-borne disease outbreaks in spinach, peanuts, and peppers, to name a few, have not only just sickened and killed American consumers, they've laid bare the unacceptable gaps in our food safety laws. And today, the House will act to close those gaps, give FDA new authorities, new tools, and a new source of funding to carry out this vital mission.

This legislation contains policy solutions that come from many Members on both sides of the aisle. It's largely based on legislation introduced by Chairman Emeritus John Dingell, Subcommittee Chairmen Pallone and Stupak. These three Members have played an instrumental role in this legislation, as have Representatives Sutton and DeGette on our committee.

In addition, I want to single out Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro who introduced the landmark legislation which contributed in a substantial way to this bill. I want to thank our full committee Ranking Member Barton and subcommittee Ranking Members Shimkus and Deal for their contributions to the legislation as well, and Chairman Peterson and Chairman Rangel who gave suggestions to make the bill a better bill.

The coalition of food safety groups worked with the Members to develop and maintain the strong, public health protections in this bill. I think that they deserve an enormous amount of recognition, but I want to thank Rachel Sher of my staff for her thoughtful work and countless hours on this bill. Other key staff on the effort include Eric Flamm, Virgil Miller, Elana Leventhal, and Erika Orloff, as well as several individuals from the minority staff, including Ryan Long, Clay Alspach, Blake Fulenwider, and Chris Sarley.

And finally, I want to thank President Obama and his administration for their contributions to this legislation. The safety of the food supply is a critical issue, and this legislation will give the administration the tools they need to keep this food supply safe.

I urge a ``yes'' vote for the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I submit the following exchange of of letters:

House of Representatives,

Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC, July 27, 2009.

Hon. Henry A. Waxman,

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rayburn House

Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: The Committee on Ways and Means applauds

your efforts to improve and ensure the security and safety of

food offered for consumption and consumed in the United

States and appreciates your willingness to work with us to

satisfactorily resolve a number of trade-related issues

falling within our jurisdiction. Such issues include the

regulation of importers and brokers, Customs and Border

Protection (CBP) implementation and enforcement of U.S. laws,

and compliance with U.S. international trade obligations. In

particular, we appreciate your efforts to address our

concerns with respect to sections 204 and 205 of your bill,

H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, regarding

the registration of importers and brokers, respectively.

In light of the agreed upon changes, the Committee will

forgo action on this bill and will not oppose its

consideration on the Suspension Calendar. These changes

ensure that the application of the Food Safety Enhancement

Act on the registration of importers is carried out in

consultation with CBP, taking into consideration time needed

for CBP and importers to make necessary adjustments to comply

with the new requirements of the Act, and that the

registration of customs brokers is consistent with and does

not extend beyond current requirements set forth in current

law, including granting new authority to any other agency to

regulate customs brokers.

This is being done with the understanding that it does not

in any way prejudice the Committee with respect to the

appointment of conferees or the full exercise of its

jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or similar

legislation in the future.

The Committee intends to look for opportunities to improve

the safety of imported food and the safety of imported goods

overall, in accordance with the existing statutory and

regulatory scheme under CBP. We look forward to soliciting

your suggestions for reform.

Sincerely,

Charles B. Rangel,

Chairman.