Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is also a doctor. Congress has had medical personnel in its ranks, from heart surgeon (Bill Frist, R-TN) to dentist (Charlie Norwood, R-GA).
Coburn's specialty is gynecology, but for the purpose of this discussion, the most important thing is that Coburn can legitimately call himself MD.
So you would think that the last person in the Senate, regardless of party. to hold up a food safety bill would be a medical doctor.
Welcome to the world of politics.
Senators can put a hold on a bill. They can even do so anonymously. But in this instance, we know Sen. Coburn is the one who put a hold on the food safety reform bill.
Now we could be sympathetic if the senator/doctor was upset that the bill didn't go far enough, and a stronger bill was needed to fight this problem.
Sen. Coburn's issue with the bill is not medical, and he is more concerned about giving power to the FDA. Coburn is also claiming issues of adding to the deficit, which isn't in itself a bad thing, except the senator from Oklahoma has let many bills go by in the past that added more significantly to the deficit, but for things that he wanted.
Democrats have pointed out that the legislation won't immediately add to the deficit, and that the money would come from annual spending bills. So even if Congress passed food safety legislation, it could starve the actions by not providing a sufficient amount of money.
The FDA is pretty toothless right now — can't order a recall, such as the egg/salmonella crisis, and the agency rarely even visits facilities and farms for inspection. The legislation would give the agency more power for recalls, require more food processing facility inspections, and require stricter standards for keeping food safe.
The food safety reform bill impasse is the subject of bad timing for a number of reasons. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the bill now won't be able to get done before the elections, which means it won't pass in 2010. The bill would have to start all over, possibly with a Congress that will be less interested in getting a bill passed, good or bad.
Even if the Dems retain both houses of Congress, the margins will presumably be slimmer, decreasing the chances of passing any kind of bill. And of course, Coburn or another senator can still block the bill.
Not to play favorites, but Democratic politicians have been more favorable to improving food safety than Republican politicians. Of course, neither side has been effective in coming up with a strong food safety reform bill. This was the closest, even though it could have been stronger.
Even if the bill got passed, there is still a very good chance of another major food safety crisis. Without a bill, you can just about guarantee it will happen again.
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