"If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." — Thomas Jefferson
Because a few highly-paid professional athletes took dietary supplements that were illegally spiked with steroids, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and his partner-in-crime Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) have introduced Senate Bill 3002 this month to require: (1) comprehensive registration of all manufacturers, distributors, and holders of supplements; (2) prohibition of sale of any dietary supplement not on an FDA-approved positive list; and (3) burdensome reporting of each and every adverse event, whether serious or trivial, affecting dietary supplements. The National Health Federation issued a press release and call for action even before the Bill was introduced (see http://www.thenhf.com/press_releases/pr_04_feb_2010.html). As we said then, overreaction and overkill don’t even begin to describe McCain’s “solution” to a minor problem.
Now, suppose, as scientist and author Durk Pearson has suggested, that after the failed attempt of Richard Reid (the terrorist shoe bomber) to blow up a transatlantic airplane, the government had reacted in the same way as McCain is proposing to do now.
That is, did Reid’s attempt mean that the U.S. needed to register shoe stores and shoe salesmen? Did it mean that the U.S. needed to create more regulations on shoe manufacturers? Did it mean that all new shoe designs had to be approved before sale by a shoe-design czar?
No, of course not! It simply meant that more testing needed to be done at airports to make sure that people were not walking on board airplanes with bombs on their feet disguised as shoes rather than legitimate shoes. Had the government followed the McCain “solution,” the law would have done nothing to prevent the next bombing attempt. Shoe bombers would have simply violated the law and added already illegal explosives to their shoes.
If McCain’s intentions were truly honest, and if his bill were not simply a pure power grab, then the government would test for anabolic properties all products advertised to increase muscle mass or size. This kind of testing would not interfere with legitimate dietary supplements.
How do you test for new synthetic anabolic steroids? Put out a bid for a test that costs under $10 per test and that quantitatively measures activation of the human testosterone and dihydrotestosterone receptors on genetically-engineered bacteria. If the material has testosterone receptor activation properties stronger than 0.1% of testosterone, it is banned as an ingredient in dietary supplements. If it doesn't activate the human testosterone or dihydrotestosterone receptors, then it is not an anabolic substance. End of problem.
Above all, do not use a shotgun when a rifle is the proper tool. To save a handful of well-paid athletes, McCain’s scattergun approach would seriously harm the health of millions of supplement users and erase from the health world most of those as-yet undiscovered supplements.
SIGN OUR PETITION TO THE U.S. SENATE!
Many thanks to all of you who have already signed our Petition against S.3002. For those of you who have not yet done so, please go at once to http://www.thenhf.com/press_releases/dietary2010_petition.htm and sign the Petition. Lee Bechtel, our NHF Lobbyist in Washington, D.C., will be hand-delivering the Petition soon to the U.S. Senate. This is important, as we must overwhelm the Senate with our numbers!
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AND MAKE THESE ARGUMENTS TO YOUR SENATORS! When visiting or calling your Senators, or e-mailing or writing them, use our prepared list of bullet point arguments in discussing S.3002. Go to www.thenhf.com/press_releases/McCain%20Bill_Flyer.pdf and print out this handy one-page sheet for your use. Feel free to distribute it far and wide to all of your interested contacts as well for their use. |
(Click Here For The Online Petition)
(Click Here For A Suggested Letter)
(Click Here For The Opposition Handout)
Senator McCain
Office phone number: (202) 224-2235
E-mail Senator McCain: http://mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Senator Dorgan
Office phone: (202) 224-2551
E-mail address: http://dorgan.senate.gov/contact/contact_form.cfm
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ACT II
Despite what you may hear from the establishment media and its talking heads, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi have not ended their quest for a complete government takeover of health care. In fact, while the health-freedom community is distracted with the McCain power grab, they all hope to push this massive pork-fest through – soon!
And unlike with previous Congressional attempts, the current political and legislative atmosphere plays right into the hands of the Waxman/Pelosi and Durbin/Reid anti-supplement axis of evil. The Democratic Party’s tight control of both House and Senate legislative procedures greatly increases the prospects for Congressional passage unless health-freedom advocates proactively and immediately make their opposition known.
As a matter of fact, the group “Organizing for America” is claiming on its website that its volunteers have pledged over six million hours to work for candidates who support this intrusive bureaucratic nightmare. But as Dr. Jane Orient has already pointed out, this Disease-Care bill is not about your health at all. If it were, then why would not the benefits kick in immediately so as to benefit the people? No, the taxes and excruciatingly-heavy payments will go on for three years before any health-care benefits start to flow! No, the Federal government needs your money to save its financial rear-end. That is what this is truly about – finance the Federal government’s bailouts and bloated civil service and in three years’ time you will start benefitting from genuine Third-World health care. What a deal!
Right now, re-contact your Senators and Representatives and let them know that you are watching them and that you still oppose this nightmare legislation! Go to www.thenhf.com/government_affairs_federal.html (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) for contact information, sample letters, and our on-line Petition.
Your urgent and persistent action is needed now to stop this Disease-Care bill from being passed. Act now!
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Click on this address to find your U.S. Senators: http://www.senate.gov
Contact Information to E-mail Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
The Senate main number is (202) 224-3121
lick on the following link below for individual mailing addresses for
letter writing and other contact info for Congress Members:
Fax List for House of Representatives
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As the oldest and best-respected health-freedom group on Capitol Hill, the NHF continues to be the credible source of objective assessment of, and proactive actions on, Congressional legislation and FDA matters that have material impact upon our freedom-of-health choices and access to dietary supplements and nutritional foods.