U.S. House oversight lawmakers reviewing the FDA’s role in the baby formula shortage say the federal agency is dodging oversight and delaying providing answers.
Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week asking for interviews with FDA officials to get to the bottom of the baby formula crisis that rocked the U.S. last year.
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An official with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that the reason the agency didn’t find a shocking whistleblower’s report on the baby formula shortage because the report was lost in the mailroom for at least four months.
The New York Post reports that the 34-page document had been sent to the FDA back in October, claiming that an Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Michigan was experiencing a shortage in product primarily due to increasingly unsanitary conditions. The FDA’s Frank Yiannas, Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, admits he didn’t actually see the report until February.
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A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee explained Thursday why he voted against a bill that purports to help end the shortage of baby formula in the United States.
“I wanted to talk a little bit about a bill that came through yesterday dealing with the formula and the shortage,” Rep. Tim Burchett R-TN-02) said in a video. “What it basically was, was $28 million in the bill, but like $23 million of it was for ‘administrative costs’ and ‘salaries.’ So basically, what the Democrat leadership did was use a bill, title it something that’s dealing with people who are genuinely hurting, and just use it as an instance to increase pay at the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration FDA)].”
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A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee spoke out after news that two infants in Memphis were hospitalized because special baby formula they needed for medical conditions could not be found.
“Absolutely tragic,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) told The Tennessee Star. “This nationwide crisis is landing kids in the hospital, and it’s unacceptable this is happening here in the United States. All our economic might doesn’t mean a thing if we still can’t protect our children.”
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Tennessee’s two GOP senators were two of the 11 senators who voted May 16 against expediting a floor vote on President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s $40 billion aid package to Ukraine, H.R. 7691, known as the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022—after both Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D.-N.Y.) and Minority Leader A. Mitchell “Mitch” McConnell (R.-Ky.) rejected Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.)’s request for a special inspector general to monitor America’s largesse to the non-NATO country.
Sen. William F. “Bill” Hagerty IV, who was joined in voting against cloture for the bill by his Volunteer State colleague Sen. Marsha Blackburn, told “The Tennessee Star Report” host Michael Patrick Leahy that he is frustrated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s prioritizing other countries while he ignores problems at home.
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Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) and several other GOP members of the House of Representatives held a press conference to highlight the concerns of Americans over a shortage of baby formula.
During the press conference, Rose questioned the administration on their efforts to fix the crisis, as little noticeable improvement has been made.
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Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee Thursday raised against a bill that will send $40 billion to Ukraine, citing problems that the United States has domestically.
“I don’t think we should be spending any more money, unless it’s on America’s problems here at home,” J.D. Vance said Thursday. “I would make any additional aid for the Ukrainians conditional on sending money to the American southern border, on actually trying to fix this terrible shortage of baby formula and hospital supplies.”
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