permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

Food Democracy Now BLOG: Breaking: Procedural Error in Senate Could Kill 
Food Safety Bill, S.510 Enters Congressional Twilight Zone

http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/blog/2010/dec/1/breaking-procedural-error-senate-could-kill-food-s/

Breaking: Procedural Error in Senate Could Kill Food Safety Bill, S.510 
Enters Congressional Twilight Zone
Posted by Dave on December 1, 2010

Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder in Congress, the 
Senate throws food safety and family farm advocates for a loop. 
Yesterday morning, Tuesday Nov. 30th, the Senate passed the Food Safety 
Modernization Act AKA S.510 by a wide bipartisan margin vote - 73 to 25.

After two years of contentious debate on the Internet, in Congress and 
the food movement, it finally looked like a food safety bill that gave 
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandatory recall authority and 
increased inspection powers of large-scale, high-risk facilities that 
also included hard-won provisions to protect small-scale local farm 
producers was about to become law.

All that had to happen was the bill needed to be walked to the House, 
where it was supposed to be immediately reconciled by House Majority 
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and then signed by President Obama. Of 
course, Big Ag and Western produce growers were hoping that their major 
objections to the Tester/Manager's amendments, which offered protections 
for family farmers and the local food movement and a last minute tantrum 
could stymie these provisions during the final stages of the process. At 
the same time, a number of local and organic farmers and a contingent of 
the Tea Party were hoping to kill the food safety bill outright.

Ironically, it appears that the U.S. Senate's sloppy legal work may have 
sunk the bill all on its own. Late last night, just about the time 
locavore's were getting ready to put on their organic pajamas and Food 
Democracy Now! was sorting through its latest round of hate mail from 
Tea Party fanatics, a story from the eminent Roll Call, "The Newspaper 
of Capitol Hill Since 1955" announced the latest twist with the 
bombshell headline: "House May Block Food Safety Bill Over Senate Error".

According to Roll Call's John Stanton:

"A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate’s 
lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats 
violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions 
originate in the House."

For those not familiar with the polite etiquette of Congress, this 
essentially means that someone on the Senate side screwed the pooch and 
failed to catch a glaring minor detail about separation of powers 
between the House and Senate.

As one senior Hill staffer reached after midnight put it, "What the 
fuck?" And noted this was not the first time this had happened.

I know folks; I could not make this stuff up.

The obvious dilemma here has shown that what should have been a rare 
Democratic legislative victory during the lame duck session could now be 
turned into a possible route and will likely lead House Democrats to use 
a rare procedure known as "blue-slipping" to block the bill. Which led 
food safety guru Bill Marler to write, "Did you ever get the feeling 
that grown-ups are not running our government?"

Apparently provisions in the Section 107 of the Senate bill called for a 
separate fee structure that varied from the House's versions of the bill 
which mandated a $500 "facility registration fee".

Obviously we are getting down into the weeds of Congressional protocol 
here, but Mr. Marler offers an elegant solution:

"So, if the House is already charging $500 per year, per facility, why 
can not the House and Senate in conference agree that the $500 fee, 
(that S. 510 did not have in the first place) would replace S. 510 Sec. 107?

It is late and I simply do not know the answer.  And, I have not even 
talked about issues that the House may well have over the Tester/Hagen 
Amendment which at this point the House needs to leave alone."

In an effort to keep a sense of humor about this important and 
controversial bill, late last night Food Democracy Now! turned to Fair 
Food Fight for some genius comic levity. Major hat tip to El Dragon for 
continued sense of humor in the face of such dark possibilities of 
reforming America's food system. Food safety facepalm indeed.

For additional commentary, check out Tom Philpott's latest insights on 
the bill's implications over at Grist and please read Michael Pollan and 
Eric Schlosser's New York Times editorial, "A Stale Food Fight" if you 
have not yet had a chance.

Once again, Food Democracy Now! will continue to keep you up to date on 
the latest updates facing the food safety bill as they come in.

Despite the most recent twist of fate, which now casts the bill into a 
Congressional Twilight Zone, I stand by my statement made earlier in the 
day, when it appeared the Senate still had their house in order:

"The passage of the food safety bill, which grants the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) mandatory recall authority and includes provisions 
that protect family farmers engaged in direct sales of local foods is an 
historic victory for family farmers and the local food movement, said 
Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now!.  "In 
overcoming the backlash of agricultural giants who desperately fought to 
kill these protections for family farmers, the sustainable agricultural 
movement has shown that it is a political force to be reckoned with."

No matter what the outcome tomorrow, and we hope it's positive, winning 
the fight on the Tester amendment was the food movement's biggest 
victory since Kathleen Merrigan was appointed Deputy Secretary at the 
USDA. Congratulations to NSAC, OFRF, WORC and the 12,000 Food Democracy 
Now! members who helped make it happen.