Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies, helped lead the approval of H.R. 7790, an emergency funding bill to help safely expedite the inspection of the country’s infant formula supply and quickly restock store shelves as well as prevent the sale of fraudulent formula.
“Through this legislation, Congress is acting quickly to ensure that families have access to safe and affordable nutrition for their babies. It will also help prevent the sale of fake formula and provide Congress with more data to address the vulnerabilities in the infant formula market so we can avoid this happening again,” said Congressman Bishop. “This bill gives the FDA the resources it needs to respond to this crisis.”
WATCH: Congressman Bishop Calls on Colleagues to Support Infant Formula Emergency Bill
This evening, the Congressman also supported the approval of H.R. 7791, which would expand the infant formula products eligible for purchase under the special supplemental nutrition assistance program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Currently, the WIC program includes restrictions on which infant formula products program participants can purchase with the benefit. The legislation helps make sure that America’s most vulnerable mothers and infants are not left without formula — which provides vital nutrients — during a product recall and shortage.
Tomorrow, Congressman Bishop will lead a subcommittee hearing with FDA Commissioner Robert Califf to probe how the infant formula crisis came to be, what is being done to address the immediate needs of families, and how safety procedures can be improved.
Original source can be found here.
