E2150 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks October 28, 2003 Samaritan spirit before this chamber of Con- not possess the authority to require such re- currently have about the safety of the products gress today. We are fortunate to have their ports. As a result, American consumers have on the market. We cannot continue to stand service. been unwitting victims of a multibillion-dollar on the sidelines and let this insidious public f industry! health threat go unchecked. The health and Today with my colleagues, Representative well being of our young people and loved DIETARY SUPPLEMENT ACCESS HENRY WAXMAN and Representative JOHN DIN- ones are at risk. AND AWARENESS ACT (DSAA) GELL, I am proud to introduce the Dietary Sup- I urge my colleagues to join me in sup- plement Access and Awareness Act. This bill porting the Dietary Supplement Access and HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS will address the gaps created by DSHEA Awareness Act. OF CALIFORNIA through greater information exchange and ac- f IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES countability. Our legislation contains commonsense pro- IN OPPOSITION TO THE FAA Tuesday, October 28, 2003 visions requiring dietary supplement manufac- CONFERENCE REPORT Ms. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, with turers to provide the FDA with a list of their the support of my colleagues, Representative products and reports of all serious adverse HON. JOE BACA HENRY WAXMAN and Representative JOHN DIN- events. These actions will alert the FDA to OF CALIFORNIA GELL, I rise today to introduce the Dietary Sup- problematic dietary supplements and will give IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES plement Access and Awareness Act of 2003. the FDA access to information it needs to take Tuesday, October 28, 2003 This legislation presents a balanced, rea- action more swiftly. If the FDA determines that sonable approach to improving the safety of a specific supplement may have serious Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge dietary supplements while maintaining market health consequences, it can require the manu- my colleagues to recommit this privatization access for responsible supplement manufac- facturer to do a postmarket surveillance study plan back to Conference Committee. turers. to ensure that the product is safe. Privatization simply doesn’t make sense. It Hallie Bechler looks almost exactly like her The ephedra tragedies have shown us that compromises the safety of the American pub- father. She was born in late April, almost two proving a dietary supplement to be unsafe re- lic and it is simply bad policy. months after her father, Baltimore Orioles quires a Herculean effort and mountain of evi- Studies have shown that it has no oper- pitcher Steve Bechler, collapsed from a heat- dence. Sadly, the evidence is often a growing ational or economic advantages and that it stroke during spring training. A county medical body count. Our legislation engages manufac- can even lead to more accidents. examiner linked his death to the use of a die- turers in determining the safety of dietary sup- How does this make Americans safer? tary supplement containing ephedra. Steve plements. By providing their studies and other In a post September 11th world, we must Bechler was 23 years old. related data, manufacturers and the FDA make safety a priority. Like any person interested in losing weight, would come together to make a comprehen- Air travel has declined over the past two Steve Bechler may have been lured by the di- sive and accurate decision for American con- years because people do not feel safe. We etary supplement’s claims of ‘‘rapid and ex- sumers. must not make this situation worse! tremely dramatic results.’’ In fact, for an ath- Our legislation gives the FDA the authority In Canada, privatization has lead to an acci- lete like Steve Bechler, playing baseball in the to prohibit sales to minors of dietary supple- dent rate that is twice the rate here in the Florida heat, ephedra did not cause rapid and ments that may pose significant risk. Many United States. And their air travel system is extremely dramatic weight loss, but rather young athletes emulate the practices of their only 7% the size of ours! contributed to a rapid and extreme heatstroke, professional sport heroes. Their developing I remember in 1981, President Ronald which killed him. bodies are especially susceptible to the effect Reagan fired the federal air traffic controllers Dietary supplement use is not limited to of stimulants and steroid-like products such as for striking. The President said that they were adults. Teenagers are certainly vulnerable to ‘‘andro.’’ violating Title V and that air traffic controllers pressures regarding weight and athletic expec- Numerous supplement products have must not have the right to strike because of tations. Teenage athletes are especially vul- emerged in the market in the last ten years. public safety concerns. Now, under privatiza- nerable to these pressures. Last year, Illinois They range from vitamins and minerals to tion, Title V will no longer be applicable. The high school student Sean Riggins took an herbals and hormones. This boom has created Republicans cannot have it both ways. Do ephedra product to improve his football per- an uncertain situation as to the quality and they want to deny private employees the right formance. He had a heart attack and passed safety of dietary supplements. According to to strike and collectively bargain, or do they away at age 16. Bruce Silverglade from the Center for Science want to keep the current system in place to The ephedra crisis has raised public aware- in the Public Interest, ‘‘the challenge for most ensure America’s safety? ness about dietary supplements and the ab- consumers is to determine which supplements So I ask again, why are we doing this? sence of accurate information concerning risks are beneficial and which are nothing more Is it cheaper? The answer is no. and benefits. Much of the confusion sur- than 21st-century snake oil—or even dan- Privatization increases costs. rounding dietary supplements can be attrib- gerous.’’ That is why this legislation includes The British Government had to pay $131 uted to the changes made in 1994 by the Die- authorization of funds for physician and con- million to rescue its privatized system. $131 tary Supplement Health and Education Act sumer education programs regarding adverse million! That is nearly double the price at (DSHEA). reactions. which they sold it. Cited as the greatest removal of FDA juris- Certainly, some dietary supplements offer Is this good policy? The answer is no. diction in the history of the agency, DSHEA benefits. Folic acid intake by women, for ex- Privatization has failed miserably in other has greatly curtailed its authority. Simply put, ample, has been shown to reduce birth de- countries. this legislation deregulated the supplement in- fects in unborn children. We are all familiar According to recent reports, the U.S. system dustry. Consequently, there has been an ex- with the benefits of taking vitamin C and moni- is 74 percent more efficient and 79 percent plosion of herbal remedies. Moreover, natural, toring adequate calcium intake. Despite claims more productive than the privatized European yet risky, stimulants have also entered the to the contrary, the Dietary Supplement Ac- system. market. The FDA, however, is prohibited from cess and Awareness Act will not take away vi- The U.S. air traffic control system is the screening out any of these potentially dan- tamins and minerals from consumers. In fact, safest and most sophisticated in the world. So gerous dietary supplements. What if ephedra my colleagues and I included language to spe- why do we want to change it? is only the tip of the dietary supplement ice- cifically exempt them from this legislation. It handles over half of the world’s air traffic berg? The FDA has its hands tied behind its back. and cargo. Former FDA director David Kessler wrote in Limited funding and manpower has made the Approximately 20,000 hard-working men the New England Journal of Medicine, ‘‘Con- FDA’s efforts to protect the public scattershot. and women of the FAA ensure the safety of gress has put the FDA in the position of being The measures and education programs in this more than one million passengers each day. able to act only after the fact and after sub- legislation will enable the FDA to gather solid And we should trust them to continue to do stantial harm has already occurred.’’ This is data about the dangers some dietary supple- their jobs. because DSHEA shifted the burden of proof ments pose. With this information in hand, the These are the same federal air traffic con- from dietary supplement manufacturers to the FDA can make sensible, informed decisions trollers that landed nearly 700 planes on Sep- FDA. Consumers have no way of learning and policies about dietary supplements. Con- tember 11th and completely cleared the air about reported side effects and the FDA does sumers can have greater assurance than they space in two hours.

VerDate jul 14 2003 05:41 Oct 29, 2003 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A28OC8.068 E28PT1 October 28, 2003 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E2151 When the FAA needed to respond because Middle Eastern priorities in Washington and RECOGNIZING NAVY DAY of an emergency, they were able to do so the more immediate, on-the-ground needs of quickly and efficiently. the U.S. occupation forces in Iraq, who seek HON. STENY H. HOYER Why do we want to privatize these jobs and to bring Iraqis the jobs and prosperity they view as a key step in ending attacks on U.S. OF MARYLAND risk putting anyone out of work right now? forces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Unemployment is well over 6% right now. ‘‘Our No. 1 problem is unemployment,’’ Tuesday, October 28, 2003 For Hispanics it is nearly 9% and for African said Gen. Petraeus, who has noted a falling- Americans it is nearly 11%. We must not pass off in supplies of discretionary funds that his Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to legislation that will put more people out of officers use to keep projects going forward in recognize ‘‘Navy Day,’’ observed on October work and simply hurt more working families. his area of responsibility. He has spent $28 27th, and to pay tribute to the impressive work This is a system that is not broke—so why million so far and says he needs more. ‘‘The done at the naval bases in my district, Patux- north has the military forces it needs,’’ he ent River Naval Surface Warfare Center, In- does it need to be fixed? said. ‘‘All we need is money.’’ The safety and security of the American Spurring the local economy is a critical dian Head Surface Warfare Center and St. people should not be the responsibility of the element in Gen. Petraeus’s campaign, and he Inigoes. The Fifth Congressional District’s lowest bidder. has used his funds to restart a long-dormant naval bases are critical facilities that help our It is a core responsibility of our Government. asphalt factory, uncap local oil wells and nation meet the threats and challenges of a Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to re- work to bring irrigation to a new area of new century, and their geographic proximity to commit this conference report and any further wheat fields. the nation’s capital also makes them valuable efforts to privatize our air traffic control sys- Gen. Petraeus didn’t say whether he had homeland security assets as well. I would like had friction with the civilian U.S. Coalition to take the observation of ‘‘Navy Day’’ to sa- tem. Provisional Authority in Baghdad over his f relationship with the Syrians. An officer of lute their efforts and to acknowledge the vital the 101st said its general practice was not to roles and important military capabilities per- WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE confront the CPA but to do what they formed at these three facilities. ON EFFECTS OF SYRIA AC- thought best and ‘‘apologize later rather Navy Day was established on October 27, COUNTABILITY ACT ON IRAQI than seek permission first.’’ CPA officials 1922 by the Navy League of the United ECONOMY said they had no comment on the wider ques- States. October 27 was suggested by the tion of trade with Syria, which also takes Navy League to recognize Theodore Roo- place elsewhere in Iraq, since no new U.S. sevelt’s birthday. Roosevelt had been an As- HON. NICK J. RAHALL II sanctions were yet in force. OF WEST VIRGINIA But trade is vital to this city of 1.7 million sistant Secretary of the Navy and supported a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and the surrounding region, and one of Gen. strong Navy as well as the idea of Navy Day. In addition, October 27 was the anniversary of Tuesday, October 28, 2003 Petraeus’s first priorities upon taking con- trol of the north was to open the Turkish a 1775 report issued by a special committee Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, amid the U.S. and Syrian borders. Now, he said, some 500 to of the Continental Congress favoring the pur- Coalition Provisional Authority’s push for a 700 trucks arrive from Syria each day, pay- chase of merchant ships as the foundation of free and democratic society in Iraq, this House ing a toll of $10 for a pickup and $20 for a big- an American Navy. has been constructing a dangerous wall ger rig. He has also pioneered easy, visa-free As a community, we owe special thanks to travel between Mosul province, home to the members of the naval family that sacrifice threatening Syria. The recently passed legisla- about 12% of Iraq’s 25 million people, and the tion, H.R. 1828, will not help alleviate the in- neighboring Syrian region. their own safety to protect our nation. They cessant attacks that our soldiers are facing To help Iraq cope with its huge electricity define the spirit of public service and we are daily in Iraq, as an integral part in ensuring deficit, the general dreamed up a scheme to grateful for their past and present services. their safety is an immediate boost to provide buy power from Syria in return for Iraqi oil. Over the past several months, in Iraq and Iraqis with jobs and prospects for prosperity. Speeding the process with his fleet of heli- around the world, their purpose has been the But the SAA will only prove to upset these ef- copters, he brought together officials from protection and security of our people, and the forts. Hugh Pope elaborates on this point in Damascus, men from the new ministries in promotion of peace, stability and the rule of Baghdad and the best of the 60 lawyers in his law in Iraq, the Middle East and the inter- the article ‘‘Iraq Adds Complexity for U.S., own force to hammer out a deal. Syria,’’ which appeared in the October 20th Negotiations dragged on, and the general national community, and they should know issue of the Wall Street Journal. I recommend feared they would collapse over bureaucratic that a grateful nation supports their service the following article to all of my colleagues, details. To break the logjam, he proposed and sacrifice. Democrats and Republicans alike, and to the that his engineers swing open the valves on We celebrate Navy Day in commemoration administration. the Iraqi oil-export pipeline, the Syrians of past and present servicemen and women of switch on the power lines, and the haggling [From the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 20, 2003] the Navy as they have fought the enemies of proceed at leisure over the exact final price. IRAQ ADDS COMPLEXITY FOR U.S., SYRIA freedom and prevailed. Their courage and re- Everyone agreed. solve is fundamental to our security and way AS WASHINGTON SANCTIONS DAMASCUS, AMER- Six weeks later, the informal arrangement ICAN TROOPS SEEK SYRIAN TRADE PARTNERS appears to be working well, Gen. Petraeus of life. Navy Day gives us the opportunity to appreciate their achievements and gain inspi- (By Hugh Pope) said, even if the power from Syria represents well under 10% of local production. ration from their bravery. They succeed be- MOSUL, IRAQ.—While the House of Rep- Security hasn’t been neglected. Some 800 cause they are dedicated to the values of this resentatives was voting to adopt a new raft border guards have been retrained and set up of Syrian sanctions in Washington last week, country and to its national security in the face at the old border post to keep an eye out for here in northern Iraq the 101st Airborne Di- of global terrorism. Islamist and other Arab fighters, some of vision was doing everything in its power to The Navy plays a key role in the lives of them Syrian, who have been slipping over burnish economic relations with Syria. thousands of Maryland residents, and thus I the border to attack U.S. troops. But on the ‘‘It’s the freest trade there has ever been tables of Mosul, breakfast now includes Syr- continue to place the future of the Navy in here,’’ said Gen. David H. Petraeus, com- ian apricot jam. Maryland as one of my highest priorities. As mander of the 101st Airborne’s 22,000 troops, f the Department of Defense, the White House in an Oct. 10 war room briefing for U.S. visi- and Congress prepare for the next round of tors involved in the campaign to promote PERSONAL EXPLANATION American achievements in Iraq. He proudly base closings in 2005, I am certain that the called for the next slide, an image from the overwhelming support of the community, the day the Iraq-Syria frontier post opened for HON. MAJOR R. OWENS important three-way partnership between fed- business. It featured a Syrian border monu- OF NEW YORK eral, state, and local officials necessary to pro- ment with a huge picture of that nation’s IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES tect this powerful economic engine for the late president, Hafez al-Assad. state, and the valuable homeland security as- Mr. Assad’s son Bashar is now Syria’s head Tuesday, October 28, 2003 sets of these bases prove the important con- of state, and the sanctions, headed for the Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, because of an tributions to our nation’s defense and pros- Senate, are meant to punish Damascus until the U.S. says it has stopped sponsoring ter- emergency in my district, I missed rollcall vote perity of Southern Maryland’s defense installa- rorism. #354, #355, #356, #357 and #359. If I were tions. But the burgeoning relationship between present I would have voted ‘‘nay’’ on rollcall May God continue to bless our country and Syria and American-controlled northern Iraq vote #356, #358 and ‘‘yea’’ on rollcall vote may God continue to bless the men and illustrates a divergence of interests between #354, #355, #357 and #359. women of the fifth districts Naval bases.

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