What's Sen. Coburn got against safe food?

If you thought the infamous Wright County Egg producer Jack DeCoster was the only threat poised to fight against safe food for you and your family, think again. It’s really Sen. Tom Coburn - true to his GOP values, is holding The FDA Safety Modernization Act (S-510) hostage to the whiny and bogus “can’t pay for it” deficit reduction routine. It’s the latest GOP ‘chicken shit’ way out of doing what is right. His is the vote likely to derail the legislation, that passed the House more than a freaking year ago.

Nice work, Tom. Sickened Americans don’t seem to matter.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act would finally provide the FDA with the power to force producers to recall contaminated foods.  Up till now, the agency could only work with the likes of Wright County Egg and hope for the best. Under the current law, the FDA can’t issue mandatory recalls. We created the FDA - without enforcement teeth.

This sort of nonsense is the legacy of the Grover Norquist/GOP attempt to starve regulatory agencies of funding, and/or weaken them to the point where they are ineffective - then be able to point fingers saying “see, government just doesn’t work.”

Senator Harry Reid would like to see this legislation go through, and protect Americans on the most basic level - what they eat. Here’s a statement from his office.

REID: REPUBLICAN OBSTRUCTION OF FOOD SAFETY BILL EXPOSING NEVADA FAMILIES TO UNSAFE FOOD PRODUCTS

Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement today to call on Senator Coburn to stop obstructing food safety legislation:

“In light of recent events like the egg recall in Iowa, it is unconscionable that Senator Coburn and his Republican colleagues are putting politics ahead of a common-sense, bipartisan bill to ensure that the food products our families consume everyday are safe.  I suspect that Senator Coburn’s constituents in Oklahoma would be as outraged as the people I represent in Nevada at the prospect that partisan political maneuvering would cause parents to have to start worrying about the safety of the food they feed their families. There are too many people, like Rylee Gustafson of Henderson and Linda Rivera of Las Vegas, who have been sickened with contaminated food to let this critical issue be hijacked by petty politics. 

“My hope is that Senator Coburn will reconsider his obstruction, and work with us to make sure that when it comes to food, parents have the peace of mind that all Americans deserve.”

# # #

Call or email Sen. Tom Coburn today and let him know that your family’s safety from dangerous, contaminated food is more important than his political agenda.