House votes for food safety bill

WASHINGTON -- The House last week passed a sweeping update to the nation's food safety laws, directing the Food and Drug Administration to step up factory inspections and to require food processors to improve their contamination controls.

Lawmakers voted 283-142 to give the FDA new enforcement powers through a bill that was called the first major overhaul of food safety law since 1938.

The FDA would be directed to create a system that can better trace food products through the processing and distribution chains. The agency also would be empowered to recall products suspected of being contaminated, rather than waiting for food manufacturers to act.

The bill requires the FDA to conduct safety inspections annually for high-risk food facilities and once every three years for other plants. At present, inspections are carried out roughly once every 10 years.

Health and consumer groups pushed for stronger safety laws after a wave of deaths and illnesses traced to tainted peanut butter, spinach, tomatoes, cookie dough and other foods in recent years.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said about 5,000 people die each year from food poisonings.

"Americans are dying because the Food and Drug Administration does not have the authority to protect them," Dingell said.

Opposition came from some farm interests concerned the bill might increase the cost of food without making it safer. It requires food makers and importers to pay an annual $500 fee to fund the increased inspections, but the FDA still would cover $2.2 billion in program costs over five years.

The bill goes too far "in trying to produce food from a bureaucrat's chair in Washington," said Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla.

Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus, both D-Nev., voted for the bill. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., voted against it.

MORE MONEY FOR 'CLUNKERS'

The House voted to add $2 billion to the new "cash for clunkers" program after being told it is running out of money just days after it was fully put in place.

The program offers up to $4,500 in cash rebates to people who trade in gasoline guzzlers for new, more fuel efficient cars or sport utility vehicles.

Congress set aside $1 billion for the rebates to be offered until Nov. 1 or when the money runs out. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the program would run dry much sooner than later, because it has generated a huge response.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said 40,000 rebate requests had been filed. Another 200,000 rebates reportedly were in the pipeline.

Some lawmakers raised questions about how the program was being managed. Others have challenged it as the government singling out the auto industry for assistance over other industries needing help in the recession.

Lawmakers voted 316-109 to replenish the clunker fund, transferring money from an economic stimulus law passed earlier this year. The new cash wouldn't be available until the end of September.

Berkley and Titus voted to replenish the "cash for clunkers" fund. Heller voted against replenishment.

The Senate still needs to act on the bill.

HOUSE CUTS F-22 FUNDS

Bowing to a veto threat from President Barack Obama, the House deleted funds from a 2010 defense bill to buy additional F-22 fighter jets. The Senate took similar action a week earlier.

Lawmakers moved $369 million out of the F-22 program. The bill still contained money to buy spare parts for the 187 fighter jets that have already been purchased.

Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have argued the F-22, advertised as the most advanced weapon in the skies, no longer was cost-effective.

Defenders argued there is still a need for the United States to maintain air superiority in the face of possible threats from Russia and China. The F-22 also has created thousands of jobs, and cutting it would worsen the recession, they said.

An effort by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to restore F-22 money was defeated 169-261.

Heller voted to restore funding for more F-22s. Berkley and Titus voted to delete it.

BILL SEEKS CONTROLS ON EXECUTIVE PAY

The House voted 237-185 for a bill to impose some controls on pay raises given to top executives. It came in response to bonuses of more than $1 million paid to executives at banks and finance companies that have taken government bailout money.

The bill would give company shareholders a "say on pay" through annual nonbinding votes on compensation packages. Shareholders also would vote on "golden parachute" compensation given to departing executives.

It also would forbid workers from being offered pay incentives that would entail taking financial risks that could threaten their company's health. The restriction would apply at any company with more than $1 billion in assets, which includes many bank holding companies and investment houses.

Opponents decried what they said was further government interference in private business.

Berkley and Titus voted for the compensation controls. Heller voted against them.

SENATE VOTE DEFENDS EARMARKS

Debate over earmarked spending continued. The Senate defeated an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would have prohibited funding in an Energy Department spending bill to be used for projects that were not specifically written into law.

McCain took aim at the practice of earmarking projects into committee reports that accompany spending bills. The reports written by the appropriations committees do not carry the force of law, but federal agencies usually follow their directives closely.

"Unfortunately, around here Appropriations Committee reports now are treated as if they were law and are routinely loaded up with millions, if not billions, of dollars in unrequested, unauthorized, unnecessary, wasteful earmarks," McCain said.

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said the amendment would eliminate the ability of Congress to shape spending decisions from year to year. Therefore, lawmakers "become a rubber stamp" for the president's budget.

"The last time I read the Constitution, Article I of the Constitution gives the power of the purse to the Congress," Bennett said.

The McCain amendment was killed, 25-72. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., voted against it.

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