Both the House and Senate began a two-week Easter/Passover Recess. The
Senate will return April 24 with the House resuming business on the 25th.
Inside Track will not be published Friday, April 14 and 21st.
Immigration Reform Bill Stalls In
Senate
Consumed with near-constant partisan wrangling, the
Senate push to complete action on comprehensive immigration reform bogged
down again, with Senators
arguing over which amendments will be allowed on the floor for debate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will revisit the bill April 27 in a bid
to revive it, although Republican leaders offered no assurances the bill
would be debated on the floor. Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA) said
his committee would report a revised bill by May 4.
The primary philosophical battle
is over those conservative members of both parties who believe immigration
reform legislation should concentrate
almost entirely on enforcement of existing law and strengthening of
border protections, and those who believe immigration reform must include
provisions
for immigrant labor in this country illegally, but holding necessary
jobs which they claim American’s will not fill.
There was slight hope late Thursday night as Senators
cobbled together an agreement on which amendments could be offered, and
as part of that,
a compromise on the guest worker language would be offered by Sen. Mel
Martinez (R-FL) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). The Martinez/Hagel amendment
would replace the Judiciary Committee’s language that would allow
all illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. as long as they applied
for citizenship, paid fines and any taxes owed.
Under the compromise, only workers in this country for more than five
years would be allowed to stay under temporary visas, but would be required
to apply for a green card and begin the citizenship process. Those in
this country two to five years, would have to go to one of 20 border
points of entry and apply for reentry, while those in this country less
than two years would have return to their country of origin and apply
for entry permits. To qualify, a worker would have to produce proof of
employment, union or tax records, to prove how long they’d been
in the country.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
says the compromise continues to be nothing more than amnesty for illegals.
He has favored an approach that would require all illegals to leave the
country and reapply for entry.
Return to top
House Fails to Pass Budget Resolution
House Republican leaders failed to pass a FY2007 Budget
Resolution before leaving for a 2 week recess, likely dooming its chances
for the year.
Although they pledged to give it another try after the Easter recess,
even if the House can pass their version, prospects for a final House-Senate
agreement still appear bleak. April 15 is the statutory deadline for
a House-Senate budget conference agreement, but the deadline is rarely
met.
Points of contention include a proposed limitation on emergency disaster
spending, limitations on ear-marks and a request being pushed by a leader
of moderate House Republicans, Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), similar to the
Senate’s to add at least $7 billion to Labor-HHS spending, which
includes funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Return to top School Nutrition a Target of Bi-Partisan Bills
A bipartisan group in the House and Senate introduced the “Child
Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006" this
week, seeking to eliminate foods considered too high in sugar and fat
from the nation’s schools.
Under current law, only school meals served under the
Child Nutrition Act or the National School Lunch Act must meet science-based
nutritional
standards established by Congress and the Secretary of Agriculture. Under
this bill, prescribed nutritional standards would be required of all
food sold on school premises, including cafeterias, in vending machines,
school stores, snack bars and at fund-raising events. Enforcement would
rest with USDA, which currently has authority
only over the official school lunch.
The legislation would also require USDA to evaluate and revise the current
definition of "food of minimal nutritional value" based on
current science. In evaluating foods, USDA would have to take into account
whether a product promoted obesity or chronic illnesses. The choices
of foods would come from recommendations of the Institute of Medicine
(IOM), which expects to have a report ready this fall.
The American Beverage Assoc. said the legislation
was unnecessary because since last August members of the association
have limited sales
of full-calorie soft drinks to 50% of offerings in high schools.
They are not available in lower grades. Return to top
BioShield Not Working – Critics at House Hearing Urge
Changes
At an April 6, 2006 hearing of the House Commerce Committee’s subcommittee
on health, members of Congress from both parties sharply criticized the
Administration’s efforts in implementing Project BioShield, the
new law aimed at expediting research, development, and procurement of
biodefense countermeasures. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) summed up many of
the members concerns when she stated, "I think what's lacking in
all this is a real sense of urgency."
Bush administration officials pledged to get the program
on track by developing a new strategic plan for implementing the program.
Alex M. Azar
II, deputy secretary at the Department of Health & Human Services(HHS),
acknowledged “that more can and must be done to aggressively and
efficiently implement Project BioShield." He conceded to subcommittee
members that the lack of a strategic plan has left industry guessing
about the government's priorities. He said a draft plan will be made
public later this year. Public comments will be requested and then a
final version will be released.
Corporate executives testified they cannot raise private money to help
finance the work without a clearer set of objectives and firm purchase
commitments from the government. Bruce Cohen, president and CEO of Cellerant
Therapeutics, Inc., testified that “companies like Cellerant find
themselves in the Valley of Death. That is, we do not have adequate financial
resources to move our pre-clinical [biodefense-related] programs aggressively
into human clinical trials, but without the results of those trials,
we cannot compete for contracts under Project Bioshield.” Cohen
also told member of the subcommittee that private “funding is available,
but it takes an enormous amount of time and effort, and our investors
are not prepared to have us use their capital for a program whose financing
is beyond the control of the commercial pharmaceutical market.”
Tara O'Toole, director and CEO of the Center for Biosecurity located
in Baltimore, MD testified that HHS doesn’t have the personnel
to manage the $5.6 billion program efficiently. "They have lots
of good people working their hearts out over there trying to administer
BioShield, but they fall far short of what is needed." She told
subcommittee members significant funding increases will be necessary
if the government is serious about defending against biological, chemical
and radiological weapons.
Azar informed subcommittee members the government has obligated about
$1.1 billion in BioShield contracts so far. Most of this money is going
toward a single program to buy 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine. The
company producing the vaccine is currently experiencing delays and scientific
hurdles, and has acknowledged it will default on its contracts in November
unless the government grants a time extension.
In related action, yesterday Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), introduced a
revised version of his BioShield II legislation the “Biodefense
and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2006.'' Among its provisions,
the bill would establish a new agency within HHS called the Biomedical
Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The new agency would
have primary responsibility for biodefense countermeasure development,
making a single agency within the government responsible for expediting
research, development, and acquisition of products for the strategic
countermeasure stockpile.
Return to top
NIH Study Rejects Aspartame Risks
Scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a new federal
study this week showing no increased risk of cancer among people who
consumed artificially sweetened drinks. The findings were reported Tuesday
at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
NIH and AARP research projects studied the diets of
340,045 men and 226,945 women, ages 50 to 69. From surveys participants
filled out in
1995 and 1996 detailing food and beverage consumption, researchers calculated
how much aspartame they consumed, especially from sodas or from adding
the sweetener to coffee or tea. Over the next five years, 2,106 developed
blood-related cancers, such as lymphoma or leukemia, and 376 developed
brain tumors. No link was found to aspartame consumption for these cancers
in general or for specific types, said Unhee Lim, who reported the study's
findings. The dietary information was collected before the cancers developed,
removing the possibility of “memory bias.”
Return to top
FDA Petitioned to Revoke Approval of Sucralose
This week Citizens for Health, a national grassroots advocacy organization,
submitted a Citizen Petition to FDA calling on the agency to revoke its
approval of sucralose, or "Splenda." Citizens for Health claims
the process for manufacturing the artificial sweetener releases dangerous
toxins into the environment.
Last week, the FDA ruled to allow food manufacturers
that use sucralose in their products to make a limited health claim that
"Splenda" does
not promote tooth decay.
Return to top
Lack of Health Professionals Hurts Global AIDS Fight
A global shortage of doctors and nurses, approaching 4.3
million health workers, is hampering the fight against AIDS and other
fatal diseases,
the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its annual report.
According to the report, more than a billion people
worldwide lack access to the most basic health care, often because there
are no health workers.
Health professionals are urgently needed in the 57 worst-affected countries
to immunize children against illness and to treat AIDS-related ailments,
malaria and tuberculosis. The lack of workers is greatest in the areas
that need medical care the most - South and East Asia and sub-Saharan
Africa.
Return to top
GAO Report Criticizes U.S. International AIDS Effort’s
Focus on Abstinence
The federal government's increased emphasis on promoting sexual abstinence
as a global AIDS-prevention strategy is hampering efforts to create comprehensive
disease-prevention programs and causing some confusion in the field,
a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found.
The report didn't address the effectiveness of the abstinence programs
promoted under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Instead, it focused on the implementation of a congressional mandate
that at least a third of AIDS prevention funds be spent on abstinence-until-marriage
programs.
PEPFAR endorses the "ABC model," which stands
for "Abstain,
Be faithful or use Condoms." The legislation behind the program
suggests 20% of the program's funding be applied to prevention,
with other funds going to treatment and care programs.
The report found that U.S. officials in 17 of 20 countries
studied said that the abstinence-spending requirement "would prevent
them from allocating prevention resources in accordance with local HIV/AIDS
prevention
needs." The requirement also has led to reduced funding for other AIDS-prevention
programs, including those aimed at reducing mother-to-child transmission
of the virus, the report found. A team in one country reported that the
spending requirement forced it to cut funds from a program to care for
AIDS patients to address a local condom shortage.
Return to top
Emergency Ag Disaster Aid Added to Senate
Supplemental; House Introduces Identical Bill
Senate appropriators this week, hammering out a $100-billion FY2006
supplemental spending bill to help pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
added $4 billion to provide disaster aid to farmers for crop and livestock
losses due to 2005 natural disasters across the country. Rep. Collin
Peterson (D-MN), ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced
an identical package in the House.
The aid package, which covers crops, livestock, damage
to livestock feed supplies and increased energy costs, which would be
offset by increases
in direct subsidy payments, was pushed in Senate Appropriations Committee
deliberations by Sens. Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) using
language originally offered in the Senate by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).
In the House, Rep. Marian Berry (D-AR) offered a similar amendment to
the House supplemental spending package, but it was defeated, prompting
Peterson to offer his bill along with 26 bipartisan cosponsors.
The bill also includes more than $2 billion for avian influenza preparedness.
The fate of the aid money is now in the hands of House and Senate conferees
who are expected to scale back the total supplemental package.
Return to top
Lawmakers, White House Increasingly Pessimistic About Doha Deal
Senior Republican lawmakers this week joined U.S. Special Trade Representative
Rob Portman in saying they’re less than confident the World Trade
Organization (WTO) will reach agreement on a global trade pact. Portman
called progress on WTO ag provisions “less than adequate,” indicating
he’s losing hope the negotiators can meet their self-imposed April
30 deadline.
Another House leader told a breakfast this week that the European Union
(EU) is in a political bind that will not allow it to improve its offer
to reduce subsidies, and without the EU there is no Doha deal. Portman’s comments, however, came in reaction
to a call by House Ways & Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA)
who said in a speech in Washington, DC, that the Bush Administration
should declare the Doha Round dead and concentrate its energies on negotiating
bilateral trade pacts. Thomas said the bilateral approach is especially
important in dealing with developing nations and allows the U.S. to create
duty-free zones, while requiring those countries to adhere to sanitary
and phytosanitary standards. An EU representative at the meeting said
Thomas’ comments might serve to undermine the Doha talks by giving
support to those who believe Congress doesn’t support the WTO process.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), speaking at the same meeting as Thomas,
was slightly more optimistic, saying while Thomas may be right in the
end, the U.S. had to remain committed to the Doha process.
Return to top
BSE Update
Judge Denies R-CALF’s Latest Suit, Says His Hands Are “Tied”
A Montana federal judge this week said his “hands
are tied” by
a previous federal appeals court ruling, denying the most recent R-CALF
request for a hearing on its suit challenging the reopening of the
U.S. border to Canadian live cattle and beef imports. The denial essentially
exhausts legal challenges for R-CALF in its attempt to shut down the
border. R-CALF was successful in March, 2005, in getting the same Montana
judge to issue a temporary injunction that stopped USDA from implementing
its “minimal risk” country rulemaking to reopen beef trade
with Canada. That order was overturned by a federal appeals court in
July, 2005, which said the courts needed to defer to USDA’s expertise
and that the original order had overstated the risk to beef producers
and U.S. consumers.
Return to top
Private BSE Testing “Bad Policy,” Johanns Says
Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said this week
allowing companies to privately test for BSE would be bad for international
trade. His statement,
made during a presentation to the North American Agriculture Journalists
meeting in Washington, DC, was in response to a lawsuit filed by Creekstone
Farms/Premium Beef, Arkansas City, KS, seeking to test its
beef to answer consumer concerns – both here and abroad -- over
safety. Johanns said a “coherent system of trade in beef” requires
nations to adhere to international science-based standards.
Return to top Half of Japan’s Food Safety Panel Resigns Over Beef Imports
Half of the members of Japan’s federal research
committee, part of the national Food Safety Commission, resigned this
week saying they
were concerned about immediate resumption of beef trade with the U.S.
The move was apparently in response to the ongoing negotiations between
the U.S. and Japan about beef trade following a shipment of U.S. beef
that violated the U.S./Japan trade pact. Six new members were
immediately named to the committee.
Return to top Animal ID Becoming Political
Hot Potato
Rolling out the timeline for the National Animal Identification System
(NAIS) this week, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, in separate
comments, referred to individual animal ID as “unavoidable,” and
called the evolving ID system as the “biggest change our protein
industry has gone through since fencing of cattle.”
Insiders say the USDA announcement is part of the Administration’s
move to show Capitol Hill it’s making progress on animal identification.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
said he intends to deal with animal identification in the
2007 Farm Bill, a move Johanns said would delay implementation. Further
both House and Senate Democrat appropriators have chided USDA witnesses
for the last month on the department’s failure to implement the
identification system.
Political attacks on USDA for its slowness in implementing a national
animal identification system increased this week, with consumer groups
alleging in a report that industry lobbying has stalled the ID system,
along with changes to the FDA ruminant feed rule. At the same time, some
state cattle groups are beginning to question the need for an ID system,
with the South Dakota Stockgrowers Assn. circulating a petition to determine
how many cattle producers nationally oppose the mandatory ID program.
In announcing the NAIS framework, USDA said the first step is premises
identification, the second step is individual and group animal ID, and
the third step is actual animal tracking. The goal of the system is to
be able to trace any animal within 48 hours to its birth farm, and the
timeframe is to have the system fully operational by 2009.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), OMB Watch and
the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) said “former industry
insiders” now in senior staff positions within USDA have been the
target of industry meetings, as well as meetings with OMB. OMB Watch
referred to this as “foxes guarding the hen house.”
Return
to top
New Bills
A number of new bills have been introduced. Click here to send a request for a copy of the text or
more information about the bill.
S.RES.433
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) offered a resolution honoring The American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the 140 years
of service that it has provided to the citizens of the United States
and their animals.
S.2487
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) proposed legislation to “ensure an abundant
and affordable supply of highly nutritious fruits, vegetables, and other
specialty crops for American consumers and international markets by enhancing
the competitiveness of United States-grown specialty crops.”
S.2564
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) offered the “Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine
and Drug Development Act of 2006.”
S.2592
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the “Child Nutrition Promotion
and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006” to amend the Child Nutrition
Act of 1966 to update the definition of "food of minimal nutritional
value" to conform to current nutrition science.
H.R.5115
A bill offered by Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) would change the tax treatment
of biomedical research corporations.
H.R.5167
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) offered the “Child Nutrition Promotion
and School Lunch Protection Act of 2006."
Return
to top
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