Chaos could stall food safety bill
The food safety bill submitted to the Senate could be in danger of being blocked by Republicans as it contained fees which were considered as tax provisions that under the laws of the congress are supposed to come from the house. This food safety bill was passed on to the house for approval by several members of the congress who are the proponents of this bill.
There seems to be a chaotic reaction from both sides as this legislative proposal is suffering from bipartisan ill-feelings, aside from the fact that this was authored largely by a bipartisan group. The House Majority Leader Hoyer, a democrat from Maryland, expressed his disapproval at the Senate for committing this mistake and in a way Congress is looking for a way in order to resolve the issue.
This $1.4B bill that was passed aims to increase Food and Drug Administration’s inspection of food and food manufacturing companies and to impose more rigid standards geared towards imported foods; this is to likewise give a wider authority for the agency for recalls. This bill was brought about by the multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis found to have contaminated peanuts, poultry and eggs.
It was reported that the Republicans have the tendency to block this bill, regardless of the Democrats’ plan to proceed with pushing it. The former party is planning to block all bills passed until expiring tax cuts have been extended and a fund is issued to the federal government that would include food safety legislation which is currently in question.
Those who are in favor would try to find a way to thwart Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a Republican, who was opposed to it on cost issues. After garnering multiple procedural voting results, the Democrats have eventually passed the bill this week. It is not clear though how they would resolve the issue. There were chaos within the House floor members and the Senate as the haggling was still in the process.
Congressman Hoyer was cited saying that this legislation may be added to another bill in order for it to get approval. The Senate proponent of this legislation however said that there is optimism on how things are going. A spokesperson said that there is confidence on the part of the authors that the legislation can get the nod and could be passed on to the President just before the year ends.