HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, March 11, 1999
1999 Ron Paul 19:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce
my Consumer Protection Package — consisting
of two pieces of legislation which will benefit
consumers by repealing federal regulations.
The first piece of legislation, the Consumer
Health Free Speech Act, stops the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) from interfering
with consumers’ access to truthful information
about foods and dietary supplements in order
to make informed choices about their health.
The second bill, the Television Consumer
Freedom Act, repeals federal regulations
which interfere with a consumers ability to
avail themselves of desired television programming.
1999 Ron Paul 19:2 The Consumer Health Free Speech Act accomplishes
its goal by making two simple
changes in the Food and Drug Act. First, it
adds the six words “other than foods, including
dietary supplements” to the statutory definition
of “drug,” thus allowing food and dietary
supplement producers to provide consumers
with more information regarding the health
benefits of their products, without having to go
through the time-consuming and costly process
of getting FDA approval. This bill does not
affect the FDA’s jurisdiction over those who
make false claims about their products.
1999 Ron Paul 19:3 Scientific research in nutrition over the past
few years has demonstrated how various
foods and other dietary supplements are safe
and effective in preventing or mitigating many
diseases. Currently, however, disclosure of
these well-documented statements triggers
more extensive drug-like FDA regulation. The
result is consumers cannot learn about simple
and inexpensive ways to improve their health.
Just last year, the FDA dragged manufacturers
of Cholestin, a dietary supplement containing
lovastatin, which is helpful in lowering cholesterol,
into court. The FDA did not dispute
the benefits of Cholestin, rather the FDA attempted
to deny consumers access to this
helpful product simply because the manufacturers
did not submit Cholestin to the FDA’s
drug approval process!
1999 Ron Paul 19:4 The FDA’s treatment of the manufacturers
of Cholestin is not an isolated example of how
current FDA policy harms consumers. Even
though coronary heart disease is the nation’s
number-one killer, the FDA waited nine years
until it allowed consumers to learn about how
consumption of foods and dietary supplements
containing soluble fiber from the husk of psyllium
seeds can reduce the risk of coronary
heart disease! The Consumer Health Free
Speech Act ends this breakfast table censorship.
1999 Ron Paul 19:5 The bill’s second provision prevents the
FDA’s arbitrary removal of a product from the
marketplace, absent finding a dietary supplement
“presents a significant and unreasonable
risk of illness or injury.” Current law allows the
FDA to remove a supplement if it prevents a
“significant or unreasonable” risk of disease.
This standard has allowed the FDA to easily
remove a targeted herb or dietary supplement
since every food, herb, or dietary supplement
contains some risk to at least a few sensitive
or allergic persons. Under this bill, the FDA
will maintain its ability to remove products
from the marketplace under an expedited
process if they determine the product causes
an “imminent danger.”
1999 Ron Paul 19:6 Allowing American consumers access to information
about the benefits of foods and dietary
supplements will help America’s consumers
improve their health. However, this bill is
about more than physical health, it is about
freedom. The first amendment forbids Congress
from abridging freedom of all speech, including
commercial speech.
1999 Ron Paul 19:7 My second bill, the Television Consumer
Freedom Act, repeals federal regulations
which interfere with a consumers ability to
avail themselves of desired television programming.
For the last several weeks, congressional
offices have been flooded with calls
from rural satellite TV customers who are
upset because their satellite service providers
have informed them that they will lose access
to certain network television programs.
1999 Ron Paul 19:8 In an attempt to protect the rights of network
program creators and affiliate local stations, a
federal court in Florida properly granted an injunction
to prevent the satellite service industry
from making certain programming available
to its customers. This is programming for
which the satellite service providers had not
secured from the program creator-owners the
right to rebroadcast. At the root of this problem,
of course, is that we have a so-called
marketplace fraught with interventionism at
every level. Cable companies have historically
been granted franchises of monopoly privilege
at the local level. Government has previously
intervened to invalidate “exclusive dealings”
contracts between private parties, namely
cable service providers and program creators,
and have most recently assumed the role of
price setter. The Library of Congress, if you
can imagine, has been delegated the power to
determine prices at which program suppliers
must make their programs available to cable
and satellite programming service providers.
1999 Ron Paul 19:9 It is, of course, within the constitutionally
enumerated powers of Congress to “promote
the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing
for limited Times to Authors and Inventors
the exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries.” However, operating
a clearing-house for the subsequent transfer
of such property rights in the name of setting
a just price or “instilling competition” via “central
planning” seems not to be an economically
prudent nor justifiable action under this
enumerated power. This process is one best
reserved to the competitive marketplace.
1999 Ron Paul 19:10 Government’s attempt to set the just price
for satellite programming outside the market
mechanism is inherently impossible. This has
resulted in competition among service providers
for government privilege rather than
consumer-benefits inherent to the genuine free
market. Currently, while federal regulation
does leave satellite programming service providers
free to bypass the governmental royalty
distribution scheme and negotiate directly with
owners of programming for program rights,
there is a federal prohibition on satellite service
providers making local network affiliate’s
programs available to nearby satellite subscribers.
This bill repeals that federal prohibition
and allows satellite service providers to
more freely negotiate with program owners for
programming desired by satellite service subscribers.
Technology is now available by
which viewers will be able to view network
programs via satellite as presented by their
nearest network affiliate. This market-generated
technology will remove a major stumbling
block to negotiations that should currently
be taking place between network program
owners and satellite service providers.
1999 Ron Paul 19:11 Mr. Speaker, these two bills take a step toward
restoring the right of free speech in the
marketplace and restoring the American consumer’s
control over the means by which they
cast their “dollar votes.” In a free society, the
federal government must not be allowed to
prevent people from receiving information enabling
them to make informed decisions about
whether or not to use dietary supplements or
eat certain foods. The federal government
should also not interfere with a consumer’s
ability to purchase services such as satellite or
cable television on the free market. I, therefore,
urge my colleagues to take a step toward
restoring freedom by cosponsoring my Consumer
Protection Package: the Consumer
Health Free Speech Act and the Television
Consumer Freedom Act.
Notes:
1999 Ron Paul 19:6
The first amendment probably should be capitalized: The First Amendment.
1999 Ron Paul 19:7
a consumers ability probably should have an apostrophe:
a consumer’s ability
