House rejects restoring funds for FDA

WASHINGTON -- The House voted last week to cut millions of dollars from Food and Drug Administration spending, with lawmakers clashing over the impact of budget cuts on food safety.

Lawmakers voted 178-241 to kill an amendment that would have restored $49 million to the agency, which was given new authority to police food products in a bill Congress passed last year.

Debate came as the House ultimately passed a fiscal 2012 spending bill for the Agriculture Department and related agencies.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., argued the bill formed by the Republican majority cuts FDA spending $87 million below last year and $205 million below what President Barack Obama requested for 2012.

He proposed to restore some of the funding, saying it would ensure the agency "has the resources it needs to do the job to protect the American people from bad food being imported into the United States."

"It is time for us to understand that every year in the United States, 3,000 Americans are killed with bad food, 128,000 are hospitalized, 48 million are made sick," Dingell said.

In response, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said the FDA budget actually will increase by $40 million, counting fees it collects from industries it inspects.

Kingston added, "If you do the math ... our food safety rate is 99.99 percent."

He said much was due to self-policing by food companies.

"Do we believe that McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken and Safeway and Kraft Foods -- and any brand name that you can think of -- aren't concerned about food safety?," Kingston said. "They don't want to be sued. They don't want to go broke. They want their customers to be healthy and happy and to come back and give them repeat business."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., voted to restore the Food and Drug Administration funding. Rep, Joe Heck, R-Nev., voted for the reduced funding.

SENATE CUTS SUBSIDIES FOR CORN ETHANOLl

The Senate voted 73-27 to end $6 billion in subsidies for the manufacture of ethanol, the corn-based fuel additive.

The vote came on an amendment to an economic development bill that may be blocked for other reasons. Still, the ethanol vote was closely watched for clues as to how senators may treat other energy tax breaks as they try to raise revenue and dent the deficit.

The vote targeted a 45-cents-per-gallon tax credit for refiners who blend corn ethanol with gasoline, and a 54-cents-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol.

Supporters of the ethanol subsidies are mostly concentrated in farm states where corn growers benefit from them. They argue ethanol helps the United States cut oil imports by 600,000 barrels a day.

Critics say the subsidies were a giveaway that prompts farmers to raise corn for fuel and not food. They said federal renewable fuel mandates already boost the market for ethanol fuel.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., voted to end ethanol subsidies.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault @stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.