CBO Scores Food Safety Measure
Alternative proposal will be adopted if the bill comes to the floor following the summer recess.
Compiled by staff
Published: Aug 18, 2010
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee's amendment to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. CBO set the price tag at $1.6 billion over the next five years. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Ranking Member Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., as well as Senators Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., cosponsored the bill. The manager's amendment will be adopted if and when the bill comes to the Senate floor in September when Congress returns from its summer recess.
According to Senator Harkin, for far too long, the headlines have told the story of why this measure is so urgently needed: foodborne illness outbreaks, product recalls and Americans sickened over the food they eat. He says he is pleased that after a great deal of time and effort from members on both sides of the aisle, they have a strong, bipartisan proposal that will overhaul the current food safety system - a system that right now fails far too many American consumers.
Most sustainable agriculture and family farm groups think the Senate bill is a very significant improvement over the companion bill passed by the House of Representatives last year.
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Tagged: farm, labor, FDA, sustainable agriculture
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