22 Sep 08 Has Congress Placed Our Children At Risk?

 

by Ang Biondo 

More bad news from China.  Hong Kong finds “melamine” in Nestlé’s milk products from China.  Since the inception and implementation of the “Free Trade Agreements” (WTO, FTAA, ASEAN Initiative, NAFTA, MEFTA, APEC, CAFTA-DR, etc… America has become victim to unscrupulous foreign unregulated manufactures.  Of the more serious violators to the health and welfare of our children is China.  They have been responsible for the tainted pet food that caused kidney failure in our pets, (especially cats), the lead based paint used on toys we’ve purchased for our children, and now melamine tainted milk products originating at their dairy farms.

After reading this article, should it angers you as much as it has angered me, then contact your Congressional representative and let him/her know how you feel.  If you don’t know how to contact your representative click on this link:  https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml , just click on the drop down box and select your state, type in your zip code and it will take you directly to your Congressional Representative. Follow the simple instructions to file your complaint or concern. (If you need help in structuring an email or letter use my email to Rep. Brian Higgins as a sample.  But make the email yours, copied text or identical letters are less effective than individually composed letters related to the same issues. Copies lack the sincerity of the writer and give the recipient the perception of being a follower instead of a leader.

Small amounts of “melamine” have been discovered in Nestlé’s milk products coming out of China.  Netscape News reports: “Nestlé’s milk from China milk powder made in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province contained melamine. Taiwanese company King Car Co. announced it has recalled packs of its Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea containing contaminated milk powder imported from China.  Japan and Singapore have recalled Chinese-made dairy products and the governments of Malaysia and Brunei announced bans on milk products from China even though neither country currently imports Chinese dairy items.The concern is because melamine has been found not only in powdered milk – used to make baby formula and other products - but also in liquid milk sold by China’s biggest dairies.

Melamine is used in making plastics and is high in nitrogen, which registers as protein in tests of milk. Though  health experts believe ingesting minute amounts poses no danger, melamine can cause kidney stones, which can lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable. Some of the farmers who sell milk to Chinese food companies are thought to have used melamine to disguise watered-down milk and fatten profit margins hurt by rising costs for feed, fuel and labor.  Food and product safety scandals have been a feature of Chinese life. Only last year, the government promised to overhaul inspection procedures after exports of medicines, toys, pet food ingredients and other products killed and sickened people and pets in North and South America. The chemical in the dangerous pet food was the same as in the milk scandal - melamine.”

In the latest count 53,000 children have fallen sick as a result of melamine tainted milk products as of September 22, 2008.  So far there has only been the report of one death attributed to the melamine poisoning, but reports of kidney stones in children have surfaced as well.

The full text can be found by clicking on the Netscape link: http://isp.netscape.com and typing “melamine in milk” in the search box, or by clicking on the following link: http://search.isp.netscape.com/nsisp/boomframe.jsp?query=melamine&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Da2c037cac958b52c%26clickedItemRank%3D5%26userQuery%3Dmelamine%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sciencebase.com%252Fscience-blog%252Fmelamine-in-milk.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3Dnsispnewssearch%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fmelamine-in-milk.html 

 

The problem is, even if we do not import these products directly from China, we import from other countries that may use produce from China in the products we import from them.

 

How much more must we endure before the Government takes the steps necessary to protect the citizens of this country from the unscrupulous greed of industry’s executives?  It is clear that the “Free Trade Agreements” are not for the benefit of the poor or middle class working stiffs who don’t stand a chance of getting or keeping a job because of them.  The so called wealth generated from the “FTA’s” doesn’t go to the jobless in America, but rather to the executives of the companies out-sourcing or dealing with the foreign manufacturers, which is reflected in their lucrative 6 or 7 digit annual salaries and bonuses.  The poor and middle class has seen their good paying jobs out-sourced, and their wages and benefits cut or eliminated altogether.  I wish someone can show me where I am better off and my quality of life has improved by the “FTA’s”.  All I see is the cost of living soaring.  Food prices have gone up dramatically, gasoline prices have gone through the ceiling, medical costs and prescription drugs consume the meager fix incomes of our elderly.  The extremely high cost of energy threatening to bankrupt many of them who’s pensions and savings have been ravished by the loss of dividends and collapse of stock holdings they depended on to supplement them in their old age. 

But worst of all, Congress sits back and plays partisan politics while our children and pets are being poisoned and placed at risk by the nations greedy corporate leaders who import from or manufacture their products off shore so they can line their pockets and cut labor costs.

 

e-mail to Brian Higgins

Representative 27^th Congressional District

Dear Mr. Higgins

Hearing yet another issue of tainted food products coming out of China has me upset and angered.  I feel Congress is turning its back on the health and safety issues created by the “FTA’s” and placing the importance of Executive profit and greed before the “Health & Welfare” of our children and citizens.  Industry has proved it cannot be trusted to police itself, and must be regulated to prevent harmful and tainted products from entering the American market place.

As my representative, I am asking you to take this problem before the House and if necessary force action to be taken on this issue.

Your reputation as a prolific proficient and concerned representative for you district has given me and other concerned citizens in your district the confidence that you can convince the House that immediate action is necessary.

Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: China, Congress, consumer, Imports, Politics, tainted milk, U.S. children