Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007

The Honorable (Representative First and Last Name)

Dear Representative (Last Name);

The Energy and Commerce Committee has passed H.R.2900, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.

I am concerned that Title VI, creating the Reagan-Udall Foundation, as it is currently written, will enable the FDA to use this legislation to undermine my access to safe and effective dietary supplements. It is important that you and your colleagues amend this bill on the House floor to remove the words "food and food ingredients" from the Purpose statement for the Foundation.

The Senate added these words when it passed S.1082. But foods and, more importantly, dietary supplements are not prescription drugs and are not biological products. The inclusion of this wording in the Senate bill would open the door to the over-regulation of dietary supplements and the imposition of drug-like risk-management practices upon food supplements. I am strongly opposed to this unnecessary over-regulation.

During Senate consideration, a colloquy between Senators Hatch and Harkin, and Kennedy and Enzi, the floor managers, expressed the Senate's intent that the activities of the Reagan Udall Institute should not apply to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). The exclusion of the words "food and food ingredients" in the mission of the Foundation in the House bill will clearly address this issue.

I hope that you will support a corrective amendment to protect my rights to safe and beneficial supplements when H.R.2900 is voted on when considered for passage by the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,