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“Be proud to say that we are all Americans." – Lamar Alexander
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Alexander Cosponsors Bill to Ensure Americans Have a Safe Food Supply
Includes Measure to Help 41,000 Tennessee Children with Life-Threatening Food Allergies |
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August 1st, 2008 - WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today announced that he has joined in introducing the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 3385), a bipartisan bill to give the FDA new authorities, tools and resources to comprehensively reform the agency’s food safety systems. At Alexander’s request, the bill also includes key provisions from food allergy legislation cosponsored by Alexander to help schools protect the more than 2.2 million children nationwide – including 41,000 Tennesseans – who suffer from life-threatening food allergies.
“This bill will help protect every American and help keep all of us healthy by improving and streamlining the FDA’s food safety efforts,” Alexander said. “Americans should be able to go to the grocery store and out to dinner without having to worry about the safety of the food they are eating. Parents shouldn’t have to risk their child’s safety in school and wonder whether their son or daughter could suffer a life-threatening allergic reaction at the lunch table.”
Last week, the FDA announced the source of the recent salmonella outbreak was jalapeño peppers and not tomatoes, as previously thought. The three month outbreak has sickened more than a thousand people and highlighted significant gaps in FDA’s ability to adequately protect the nation’s food supply.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act addresses some of those failings by authorizing new science-based standards for the safety of produce; increasing the frequency of inspections of all food facilities; establishing a new system for tracking and tracing-back fruits and vegetables in the event of a food-borne illness; and by giving FDA mandatory recall authority in the event a company fails to recall a product at FDA’s request. Food safety experts note that had any of these provisions been in place, the scope of the recent salmonella outbreak could have been drastically reduced and FDA’s response time, dramatically improved.
On June 9th, Alexander announced his support for the food allergy bill – the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act – at an event in Nashville where he was joined by country music star Trace Adkins, whose daughter suffers from serious food allergies.
That food allergy legislation, cosponsored by Alexander, would direct the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services – in consultation with the U.S. Secretary of Education – to develop voluntary guidelines for schools to prevent exposure to food allergens and ensure a prompt response when a student suffers a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction. It also provides for grants to local educational agencies to assist them with the adoption and implementation of food allergy management guidelines in K-12 public schools.
Alexander was joined in introducing the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 3385) by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).
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| August 2008 Press Releases: |
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August 20, 2008 -
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Alexander Honors the Courage of Governor Frank G. Clement
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August 19, 2008 -
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Alexander, Gordon, Wamp Kick-Off National Science and Technology Summit At Oak Ridge
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August 16, 2008 -
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Alexander Honors Memphis Lawyers Practicing Law in the “Grand Manner”
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August 15, 2008 -
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Alexander Says Tom Anderson Will Be a Fair-Minded, Experienced Federal Judge for West Tennessee
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August 13, 2008 -
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Alexander Discusses the Conflict in Georgia
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August 12, 2008 -
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Alexander Predicts 10 Percent of Rutherford County Commuters Will Be Driving Electric Cars and Trucks in 5 Years
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August 12, 2008 -
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Bipartisan Group of Senators Urge Electric Companies to Continue Clean Air Programs
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August 11, 2008 -
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Alexander Tells Jackson Trucking Company He Voted Against Congress Going Home Without Dealing With $4 Gas Prices
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August 8, 2008 -
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Alexander Says We Must Find Best Way to Address High Gas and Energy Costs
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August 7, 2008 -
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Alexander, Corker Recognize Tennessee Olympians
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August 6, 2008 -
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Alexander on NBC Nashville
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August 6, 2008 -
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Alexander Tells Nashville Food Bank He Voted Against Congress Going Home Without Dealing With $4 Gas Prices
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August 5, 2008 -
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Alexander Tells Knoxville Produce Company That Congress Shouldn’t Have Gone Home Without Dealing With $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices
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August 5, 2008 -
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Senator Alexander on NBC Knoxville
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August 1, 2008 -
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current Press Release
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August 1, 2008 -
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Alexander Says Senate Should Take Up “Gang of 10” Proposals, Improve Them, and Make Them Law
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 Radio Clip |  Television Clip
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