Does food equal bipartisanship?

In the United States, over 76 million individuals get food poisoning every year, and as a result, 5,000 people die each year. And with the recent E.Coli and salmonella outbreaks, there has been much discussion about how food is monitored within this country.

Earlier this week, Tuesday to be exact, the Senate passed a bill that will increase the power of the Food and Drug Administration in terms of seeing how food is produced and distributed. The Senate bill, referred to as Senate Bill 510, is the Senate version of the House of Representatives' Food and Modernization Act. The bill was enacted during 2009, and is considered to be very strict. But in order to maintain Republican support, Democrats had to compromise parts of the bill. For example, amendments were constructed in order to to avoid a $500 annual registration for farms. The Democrats compromises did work out though: 73 yeas against 25 nays. Some may consider this as bipartisanship.

If the House chooses to pass the bill, then the bill will be the first time the FDA's food regulation policy has been updated since 1938. It will cost $1.4 billion over the next four years, but will require the FDA to establish a minimum number of inspection of food processing facilities.

Even though the House created a earlier, different bill, it is very likely that the House will vote on the bill within the next few weeks, before the new Congress comes in in January. If the House chooses this route, then they will pass the contents of the Senate bill as a House measure and then send it back to the Senate. After the senate confirms, the bill should be ready for the president's desk.

But there is the possibility that debates may continue throughout the "lame duck" session and will have to face the new congress. Also, recently, Republican senators have signed a pledge stating that they will not agree to consider any legislation until Democrats agree to extend Bush era tax cuts.