Free Republic

Washington -- Senators have reached an agreement on more modest dietary supplement safeguards that would make it easier to crackdown on products that could hurt people. The move comes only a few days after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, stepped away from a tougher bill because of the concerns expressed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, who is a major supporter of the dietary supplement industry, one of Utah's biggest sectors. McCain and his co-sponsor Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., announced the agreement in a letter sent to Hatch, R-Utah, and two other supplement supporters, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo....

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of nutritional supplement makers climbed Monday as Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz) withdrew his support for legislation to regulate dietary supplements. "It looks like it will be an easier world to be in the dietary supplement business," said Avondale analyst Bret Jordan. "The bill would have significantly tightened regulatory requirements." In February, McCain and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.) introduced the Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more power to oversee the dietary supplement industry amid concerns the products contain harmful, hidden ingredients. The proposal would have given...

The dietary-supplement industry is fighting a bid by U.S. Sen. John McCain to force it to disclose ingredients and register with the Food and Drug Administration. The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010 would also strengthen recall authority of any dietary supplement the FDA finds to be hazardous. Opponents say subjecting manufacturers to increased reporting requirements could drive up prices and restrict the availability of vitamins and supplements. They contend the FDA is hostile to supplements because they don't go through the drug approval process - but that's an expensive process for natural substances that can't be patented. Tucson's Food...

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., met with President Barack Obama and key budget advisers Friday to discuss financial reforms and energy issues under review in Congress. Dorgan was one of four Democratic senators invited by the White House to meet with Obama and his top advisers to discuss the federal budget and other issues. Dorgan said they had "a pretty wide-ranging discussion about a good number of issues." The North Dakota senator said he raised the potential for new financial reforms and regulations to help rebuild the economy. Dorgan has sought more accountability into the expenditure of economic recovery funds and...

More than $9 trillion -- in taxpayer dollars -- has been pledged, committed, lent or spent by the federal government in response to the economic crisis. Some say that if the economy continues to deteriorate, trillions more might be necessary to prevent another Great Depression. Yet no one has investigated how this crisis happened. That is irresponsible. A comprehensive investigation is essential to prevent this from happening again.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan plan to introduce legislation to create a Senate panel to investigate the causes of the financial crisis, McCain’s office said in a statement Monday. If approved, the committee would also make recommendations about how to avoid a similar crisis in the future.