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5CatMom
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« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2008, 02:31:07 PM » |
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Carol, Thanks. I want to talk to that Ryan! Maybe he could turn off the Muzak, unplug the coffee pot, and light a fire under a few of the bureaucrats! It's soooooo frustrating to be a tax paying citizen and get such pitiful service from the government. Anyway, I made a few phone calls today, and will make some more tomorrow. Here's what I learned. According to Bart's office, they need for a member of Bart's district (or state) to phone in. According to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (HCEC), they can't act on complaints from individuals - they need for your Senators or Representatives to contact them and request that they take action. The HCEC does have a website, and a comment box, so that the average (but unimportant) person can send them a message (which I did). According to my Senator's office, Senator Sam Brownback, I need to write them a fax (which I'll do). For now, my best suggestion is to keep on contacting whomever, but add your elected representatives to your list, and also send a comment to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Here's their comment form: http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/contact_form.shtml5CatAngryMom =^..^ = |
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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5CatMom
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« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2008, 02:34:26 PM » |
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Carol,
You're welcome. What kind of response did you get from Bart's office?
5CatMom
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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Carol
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« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2008, 02:37:38 PM » |
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5cat, the very nice man who answered the phone listened and said he would relay this all to Mr Stupak as he would want to know that the process was not easy....he seemed very interested in what I had to say...this is unusual for me...  |
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
United we stand Divided we fall....
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5CatMom
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« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2008, 02:50:21 PM » |
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Carol,
I'm glad someone would at least listen to you. The lady who took my call couldn't get off the phone soon enough!
But I have spoken with others in Bart's office who were helpful.
It's very important to get our comments ON THE RECORD.
Too many times I've seen citizens' concerns completely overlooked because the bureaucrats trot out documentation which PROVES that there were no comments, and therefore the public isn't interested in the outcome. If you read through the Federal Register (LOL, and who doesn't?) you'll see references to what comments were made on a particular issue. Sometimes you'll see "there were no public comments", but you'll always see persuasive comments from the companies.
Mercy, I think it's time for a chill pill! Maybe the furries will share their taurine - it supports a calm mood.
5CatMom
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« Last Edit: May 14, 2008, 02:52:58 PM by 5CatMom »
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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Arlo
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« Reply #19 on: May 14, 2008, 03:18:36 PM » |
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I called my Representative. He's a first termer so they listened to the whole story. They requested I fax my comments that weren't made public, and the whole thing about the system doesn't work so e-mail Walter Osborne, no, do a snail-mail, call this number and get it scanned in, no, fill out a form under the new docket number, to sorry, private citizens' comments won't be made public. I just sent the fax.
(Damn, I'm exhausted!)
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5CatMom
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« Reply #20 on: May 14, 2008, 03:22:36 PM » |
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Arlo,
LOL, well at least they didn't hang up on you.
5CatMom
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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5CatMom
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« Reply #21 on: May 15, 2008, 06:33:54 AM » |
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Cross posted from "FDA Pet Food Hearing Tuesday" OK Everyone, Just got off the phone with Urnestine Ezzard (a nice guy). He works for Dockets Management Division and is the contact for the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. He said to get your comments posted at regulations.gov you must: 1. Write at the top of your comment: PLEASE POST TO REGULATIONS.GOV 2. In your comment, do not include personal information such as your telephone no., address, email address. (due to privacy concerns) 3. Try the above, and if your comment doesn't get posted call Urnestine at 301/827-6863 Here's the link again: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FDA-2007-N-0442Any problems with these directions, please let me know. 5CatMom |
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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Carol
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« Reply #22 on: May 15, 2008, 06:35:30 AM » |
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May I cross post this at Pet Connection and Truthaboutpetfood?
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
United we stand Divided we fall....
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5CatMom
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« Reply #23 on: May 15, 2008, 07:18:05 AM » |
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Carol,
Please post wherever it's needed. LOL, you have my permission in perpetuity!
But tell the other sites to let us know if they have any trouble. Those instructions are from the person (one of two) who reads the comments and decides whether or not to post them.
I believe he'll work with us.
5CatMom
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #24 on: May 16, 2008, 01:42:24 PM » |
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Sorry to be in rant mode, but I am after fishing among public comments today, Friday, May 16, 2008, at this URL: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FDA-2007-N-0442There's virtually nothing there (about 25 total comments spread over 3 pages, a lot from industry), and what is there takes five or six clicks to get to the actual comment. This is beyond ridiculous. If you think your comments are there, go take a look; they're not, nor are mine. I am so #%&**#@ off!!!!! Here's the only one I could find from Mike Floyd after a lot of digging, just to give some idea of what you might want to flesh out in yours, if we could only figure out how to get them submitted before it's too late: From: Mike Floyd [mike@imaginefloors.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:55 PM
To: Osborne, Walter
Subject: FDA Hearings on FDAAA Pet Food Mandates
Hi Walter,
I appreciate you giving me an update on the phone
the other morning. As I'm sure you can imagine, our group
is extremely interested in the prompt implementation of
the pet food reforms called for in the FDA Amendments Act.
We are currently the only pet food consumer advocacy group
that is an advisory member of AAFCO. As such, we will be
taking part in their meeting in San Antonio next week.
We would be more than eager to make a short statement regarding
the new law when the hearing is finally set. Until then, here
is a very brief statement of our position and our 13,000 plus
members from 49 states and 15 foreign countries.
POSITION STATEMENT
DefendOurPets.org was originally started by approximately 300 families
who lost companion animals to the pet food contamination tragedy that
surfaced in the spring of 2007.
When Menu Foods announced their "Precautionary" recall on March 16, 2007
it began a thorough and tearful examination by many pet families of the
state of the pet food industry in the United States. The fact that many
consumer families lost any sense of trust and confidence in the regulatory
oversight and the nature of the pet food production chain, led to our
strong desire to see revisions in the current regulations that would lead
to improved safety and health for our beloved animal companions.
1. The old regulations were largely unenforced due to budget restraints.
2. The labeling regulation for pet food are deliberately archaic and
misleading.
3. Production standards are substantially uninspected due to budget
restraints.
4. Virtually no controls existed on foreign pet food ingredients imported
into the United States.
In short, there existed a "chain of greed" that led to the deaths of
thousands of our furry family members. Retailers start carrying "store brands" in order
to maximize profits. The retailers put price pressure on the manufacturers of these pet
foods in order to increase profits. The manufacturers, for example Menu Foods, look
for any methods to reduce costs and maintain their profits. In doing so, they look
to very low-cost sources for ingredients like China, who supplied the contaminated
wheat gluten that killed so many. The Chinese company supplying the wheat gluten, in
order to falsely overstate the protein content of their gluten, added the melamine in
order to get higher test results and higher prices.
It was all about greed. AND very little regulation or inspection.
To get just a brief sense of the personal nature of this tragedy, we suggest
you visit our website at www.defendourpets.org
The contamination problem of last spring, led many of us to attempt an
in-depth analysis of the pet food industry and its regulation. We learned that the
problem went much much deeper than merely one greedy Chinese wheat gluten supplier.
Virtually the entire infrastructure of the pet food industry is decayed and
virtually unresponsive to the demands of consumers for safe and healthy pet food, AND
fair and accurate labeling.
"The primary purpose of labels on a product should be to enable the consumer
to make a more intelligent choice."
The doctrine listed above has been almost totally forgotten in the push of
special-interest groups towards minimizing any regulation at all.
The new law enacted in September of 2007 provides that, among other things,
the FDA, with the advice and assistance of other groups, such as the CVM and AAFCO,
has 24 months to develop new policies and regulations regarding:
1. Pet Food Labeling
2. Pet Food Production
3. Pet Food Ingredients
1. Labeling - Today, pet food labels include such words as "premium",
"organic", and "holistic" which have absolutely no definition in the present regulatory environment.
Also, the use of words like "with", "dinners", "snacks", etc. further have made the labeling
regulations very difficult for the consumer to interpret, and of very little value in making
purchasing decisions. We are proposing regulations which would give meaning to these labels and
greatly SIMPLIFY the task of the average consumer in trying to maintain the safety and health of
their beloved companions.
Also, we hear a great deal about COOL (Country of Origin Labeling). Over 98%
of the consumer public that we have surveyed, DEMAND such labeling. There is a new bill which will
come before the next session of Congress that should make this much easier. Also, such as simple
regulation as requiring the name and address of the company that actually manufactures the pet food,
has met with resistance.
2. Production - The main problem with current production standards and
regulations is that there is very little testing mandated both before, during, and after the production
process. It is time that the pet food industry became aware of and lived up to the implied
warranty presented by the advertising on their labels.
3. Ingredients - The list of ingredients needs to be reviewed to eliminate
fillers and sub-standard products such as meat-byproducts from rendering
plants. Since last March, the consumer public has become much more aware of
what is actually contained in these ingredients, as is horrified.
We are not trying to destroy the pet food industry. To the contrary, the
consumer public has clearly voiced their willingness to pay higher prices
for higher quality pet food. If the pet food industry would simply meet
their customer's demands, sales would not only not suffer, but would
actually increase. The prove lies in the sales figures demonstrated in the
post-crisis economy.
But, so far, suggested changes for the regulation of the pet food industry
have met with the same old recalcitrance.
The next 18 months will tell the pet food consumer whether or not it's
government is truly responsive to their needs.
Or, is opening up foreign trade for American multi-national companies more
important than the health and safety of American Consumers. Many American
companies now sell their products in China, BUT AT WHAT COST?
Thank You Sincerely,
Michael R. Floyd
Founder
www.defendourpets.org
*********************************************************************************************I AM BEYOND PISSED OFF. Can anybody help? And thank you. |
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« Last Edit: May 16, 2008, 01:44:20 PM by 3catkidneyfailure »
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5CatMom
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« Reply #25 on: May 16, 2008, 02:13:54 PM » |
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3Cat,
Did you try calling that phone number that I posted? It's 301/827-6863.
Ask to speak to Urnestine (a guy), and he can find your comment for you.
5CatMom
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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3catkidneyfailure
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« Reply #26 on: May 16, 2008, 03:03:43 PM » |
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Thanks, 5Cat. Monday, I guess. I'll be cooled off by then.
Where are they hiding the bulk of the public comments? That can't be all of them.
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5CatMom
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« Reply #27 on: May 16, 2008, 03:14:45 PM » |
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3Cat,
Sounds like they come in and are kept in some sort of database. Urnestine can access the database and find your comment.
From there, I believe a human reads each comment, and then it gets posted on the website.
If a comment contains personal info, it won't get posted unless you wrote at the top of your comment "Post To Regulations.gov", or call Urnestine and ask him to post it.
Please let me know how it goes on Monday.
5CatMom
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"What is man without the beasts? If the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." Chief Seattle
"We are the caretakers of our creatures . . . the peacekeepers of our planet"
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Carol
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« Reply #28 on: May 16, 2008, 03:16:22 PM » |
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Mine is there now....  I sent it the way 5cat told us at 8pm last night...(I am pet owner-real original huh?) |
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« Last Edit: May 16, 2008, 03:24:25 PM by Carol »
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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead
United we stand Divided we fall....
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Sandi K
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« Reply #29 on: May 16, 2008, 10:43:16 PM » |
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Thanks, 5Cat. Monday, I guess. I'll be cooled off by then.
Where are they hiding the bulk of the public comments? That can't be all of them.
3Cat, Mr Osborne told me he had received comments from 90 people! He said they would definately be submitted to that docket (but maybe wont show on-line if people didnt request it). Those would have been the ones people sent early on when the comment system wasnt working. |
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