WASHINGTON — A food safety bill that gives federal authorities sweeping new powers to more quickly contain contamination outbreaks tripped up Wednesday over concerns about its impact on farmers and ranchers.
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House considered the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 a shoo-in and brought it to the floor under fast-track rules that require support from two-thirds of the House — 284 votes or more — to pass. It failed on a vote of 280-150.
Largely a procedural setback, the vote nonetheless showed the power that agricultural interests were able to exert against the legislation, leading to a last-minute rebellion and splitting the Democrats in Colorado’s delegation. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver is one of the bill’s co-authors and voted “yes.” Reps. Betsy Markey of Fort Collins and John Salazar of Manassa voted against it.
“From the numbers that did vote today, you can see that the bill still has strong bipartisan support and will be back up tomorrow,” said DeGette spokesman Kris Eisenla.
The bill allows the Food and Drug Administration to recall contaminated food as well as to quarantine geographic areas where the contamination originates. It includes tighter reporting requirements on producers to make tracking an outbreak easier.
While the bill exempts small farmers and ranchers from those reporting requirements, some farmers have complained that the bill’s language is too ambiguous.
Markey “felt that the bill would have harmed smaller agricultural producers and placed an unfair regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers in the 4th District,” said her spokesman, Ben Marter.
A ConAgra meatpacking plant in Markey’s district instituted one of the largest food recalls in the nation after contaminated meat caused one death and dozens of illnesses across the country in 2002.
“Almost all new regulation is undertaken with the best intentions,” Marter said, “but the congresswoman felt the unintended consequences of placing an undue burden on Colorado farmers and ranchers far outweighed the potential benefits.”
How Colorado voted
In favor
Rep. Diana DeGette (D)
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D)
Rep. Jared Polis (D)
Against
Rep. Mike Coffman (R)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R)
Rep. Betsy Markey (D)
Rep. John Salazar (D)
