87

1 Act of July 24, 1919 (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 21, sec. 10;

2

3

4

41 Stat. 271, ch. 26), defining wrapped meats as in pack

age form, shall remain in force and effect and be applicable

to the provisions of this Act: And provided further, That 5 amendment to the Food and Drugs Act, section 10A,

6 approved August 27, 1935 (U. S. C., 1934 ed., Sup. I,

7

title 21, sec. 14a), shall remain in force and effect and be 8 applicable to the provisions of this Act.

9

11

12

(b) The provisions of this Act shall not be held to 10 modify or repeal any of the existing laws of the United States except as provided by paragraph (a) of this section. (c) Meats and meat food products shall be exempl 13 from the provisions of this Act to the extent of the application or the extension thereto of the Meat Inspection Act, 15 approved March 4, 1907, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed.,

14

16 title 21, sccs. 71-91; 34 Stat. 1260 et seq.).

Passed the Senate May 13 (calendar day, May 28),

1935.

Attest:

EDWIN A. HALSEY,

Secretary.

7830

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE

Mr. DOXEY: Committee on Agriculture. H. R. 5168. A bill authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, of Maryland, for park purposes; with amendment (Rept. No. 2754). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

Mr. CHAPMAN: Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. 8. 5. An act to prevent the adulteration, misbranding, and false advertising of food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics in interstate, foreign, and other commerce subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, for the purposes of safeguarding the public health, preventing deceit upon the purchasing public, and for other purposes; with amendment (Rept. No. 2755). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2756. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Post Office Department. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2757. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the War Department. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Fapers. House Report 2758. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Department of Agriculture. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2759. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Treasury Department. Ordered to be printed.

MAY 22

Mr. SMITH of Washington: Committee on Claims. H. R. 8274. A bill for the relief of Bertha M. Harris; with amendment (Rept. No. 2769). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. RYAN: Committee on Claims. H. R. 11869. A bill for the relief of William L. Jenkins; without amendment (Rept. No. 2770). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. RYAN: Committee on Claims. H. R. 11860. A bill to provide an additional sum for the reimbursement of certain officers and enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps for personal property lost, damaged, or destroyed as a result of the earthquake which occurred at Managua, Nicaragua, on March 31, 1931; without amendment (Rept. No. 2771). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. SEGER: Committee on Claims. H. R. 11863. A bill for the relief of Clark F. Potts and Charles H. Barker; without amendment (Rept. No. 2772). Referred to the ComImittee of the Who House.

Mr. BEITER: Committee on War Claims. H. R. 10504. A bill for the relief of Booth & Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation; without amendment (Rept. No. 2773). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. BETTER: Committee on War Claims. H. R. 12311. A bill for the relief of the P. L. Andrews Corporation; without amendment (Rept. No. 2774). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

Under clause 3 of rule XXII, public bills and resolutions were introduced and severally referred as follows: effective date of naturalization in certain cases; to the ComBy Mr. BLOOM: A bill (H. R. 12827) to prescribe the

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2760. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the United States Employees' Compensa-mittee on Immigration and Naturalization. tion Commission. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2761. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Federal Reserve Board. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2762. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Department of Commerce. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2763. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the United States Veterans' Bureau. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2764. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Federal Trade Commission. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2765. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Civil Service Commission. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. COLDEN: Committee on Disposition of Executive Papers. House Report 2766. Report on the disposition of executive papers in the Department of State. Ordered to be printed.

provide a pension $60 per month for all men and women By Mr. DUNN of Pennsylvania: A bill (H. R. 12828) to in the United States and its possessions who have attained the age of 55 years and whose incomes are less than $1,200 per year; to the Committee on Ways and Means.

service merit system by placing the position of postmaster By Mr. BACON: A bill (H. R. 12829) to extend the civilin first, second-, ad third-class offices in the competitive classified service; to provide for promotion within the Postal Service to the position of postmaster as a reward for merit, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Civil Service.

By Mr. GILLETTE: A bill (H, R. 12830) to amend the act of May 17, 1910, entitled "An act to establish a permanent Commission of Fine Arts"; to the Committee on the Library.

By Mr. KOPPLEMANN: A bill (H. R. 12831) to authorize the coinage of 50-cent pieces in commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of Hartford, Conn.; to the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Meas

ures.

By Mr. SMITH of West Virginia: A bill (H. R. 12832) to authorize the disposition of the naval ordnance plant, South Charleston, W. Va., and for other purposes; to the Committee on Naval Affairs.

By Mr. SUTPHIN A bill (H. R. 12833) to assure to persons within the jurisdiction of every State, the equal pro

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON PRIVATE BILLS AND tection of the laws, by discouraging, preventing, and punish

RESOLUTIONS

Under clause 2 of rule XII,

Mrs. NORTON: Committee on the District of Columbia. H. R. 11522. A bill to amend the charter of the National Union Insurance Co. of Washington in the District of Columbia; with amendment (Rept. No. 2746). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. EVANS: Committee on Claims. H. R. 10876. A bill for the relief of Adele Fowlkes; with amendment (Rept. No. 2767). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Mr. TOLAN: Committee on Claims. H. R. 8418. A bill for the relief of the estate of Catherine Harkins, deceased; with amendment (Rept. No. 2768). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

ing the crime of lynching; to the Committee on the Judiciary.

By Mr. TOLAN: A bill (H. R. 12834) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase the building now used as a post office in Yosemite National Park, Calif.; to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.

By Mr. SCOTT: A bill (H. R. 12835) to provide financial assistance to the States and political subdivisions thereof, to the District of Columbia, or any Territory of the United States for the elimination of slums, for the construction of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings at low rentals for families of low income, and for the reduction of unemployment and the stimulation of business activity, and for other purposes; to the Committer on Ways and Means.

74TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session

{

FOOD, DRUGS, AND COSMETIC ACT

REPORT No. 2755

MAY 22, 1936.-Referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

Mr. CHAPMAN, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 5]

The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the act (S. 5) to prevent the adulteration, misbranding, and false advertising of food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics in interstate, foreign, and other commerce subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, for the purposes of safeguarding the public health, preventing deceit upon the purchasing public, and for other purposes, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the act do pass.

The committee amendment strikes out all of the Senate bill and inserts in lieu thereof a substitute which appears in the reported bill in italic type.

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

On March 22, 1935, the President sent the following message to the Congress:

To the Congress of the United States:

Every enterprise in the United States should be able to adhere to the simple principle of honesty without fear of penalty on that account. Honesty ought to be the best policy not only for one individual, or one enterprise, but for every individual and every enterprise in the Nation. In one field of endeavor there is an obvious means to this end which has been too long neglected: The setting up and careful enforcement of standards of identity and quality for the foods we cat and the drugs we use, together with the strict exclusion from our markets of harmful or adulterated products.

The honor of the producers in a country ought to be the invariable ingredient of the products produced in it. The various qualities of goods require a kind of discrimination which is not at the command of consumers. They are likely to confuse outward appearance with inward integrity. In such a situation as has

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FOOD, DRUGS, AND COSMETIC ACT

grown up through our rising level of living and our multiplication of goods, consumers are prevented from choosing intelligently and producers are handicapped in any attempt to maintain higher standards. Only the scientific and disinterested activity of government can protect this honor of our producers and provide the possibility of discriminating choice to our consumers.

These principles have long been those on which we have founded public policy. But we have fallen behind in their practical application. No comprehensive attempt at reform in the regulation of commerce in food and drugs has been made since 1906. I need not point out to you how much has happened since that time in the invention of new things and their general adoption, as well as in the increase of advertising appeals. Because of these changes loopholes have appeared in the old law which have made abuses easy.

It is time to make practical improvements. A measure is needed which will extend the controls formerly applicable only to labels to advertising also; which will extend protection to the trade in cosmetics; which will provide for a cooperative method of setting standards and for a system of inspection and enforcement to reassure consumers grown hesitant and doubtful; and which will provide for a necessary flexibility in administration as products and conditions change. I understand this subject has been studied and discussed for the last 2 years and that full information is in the possession of the Congress.

No honest enterpriser need fear that because of the passage of such a measure he will be unfairly treated. He would be asked to do no more than he now holds himself out to do. It would merely make certain that those who are less scrupulous than I know most of our producers to be, cannot force their more honest competitors into dishonorable ways.

The great majority of those engaged in the trade in food and drugs do not need regulation. They observe the spirit as well as the letter of existing law. Present legislation ought to be directed primarily toward a small minority of evaders and chiselers. At the same time even-handed regulation will not only outlaw the bad practices of the few but will also protect the many from unscrupulous competition. It will, besides, provide a bulwark of consumer confidence throughout

the business world.

It is my hope that such legislation may be enacted at this session of the Congress. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 22, 1935.

GENERAL PURPOSES

This act seeks to set up effective provisions against abuses of consumer welfare growing out of inadequacies in the Food and Drugs Act of June 30, 1906, as amended (U. S. C., title 21, secs. 1-15). That act is popularly known as the "Wiley pure food law" because that great pioneer in pure food and drug legislation, Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, led the fight for its enactment.

While the old law has been of incalculable benefit to American consumers, it contains serious loopholes and is not sufficiently broad in its scope to meet the requirements of consumer protection under modern conditions. In considering the measure the committee had before it a host of exhibits and examples of abuses of the consumer's health and pocketbook, against which there is now no effective restriction or no restriction at all. Among these were the following:

Worthless drugs sold for serious diseases, with accompanying death certificates showing death of users from those same diseases and evidence that their health might have been restored or lives prolonged through rational treatment.

Instances of deaths from powerful drugs bearing truthful labels, but where the directions for use called for too large or too frequent dosage or other improper use.