Food safety act may be unconstitutional

Editor:

'The Food Safety Modernization Act' (SB 510) was passed by the U. S. Senate on Dec. 2. The most recent problem with this bill, which originated in the Senate, is that it raises revenue through various fees. According to the U. S. Constitution Section 7, the first sentence states: "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; " therefore, a constitutional challenge will likely prevent it from becoming law.

This exposes a structural shortcoming by all of those involved. This error would have been caught if each senator had read the entire bill and understood the U. S. Constitution. Each senator, after all, takes an oath of office to uphold the United States Constitution. "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion …. "

Does this procedural error portend more fundamental flaws within this bill and recent legislation such as health care "reform"? Does this give further credence to the notion that there might be some members of Congress who do not regard the U. S. Constitution as currently relevant? They do not seem to respect its limitations. As Ronald Reagan famously said, "Government is not the solution, government is the problem. " We would be better off if these bureaucratic power grabs were never proposed in the first place.

Rick Dow, Havre