Lynn Sweet
WASHINGTON-Former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.), who also was a former ambassador to New Zealand and Samora, returned to Capitol Hill this week to highlight a bill banning antibiotics being given to animals we eat who are not sick.
Moseley Braun is the founder and president of Ambassador Organics, based in Chicago.
In Washington on Tuesday, Moseley Braun was volunteering her time on behalf of the PEW Charitable Trusts in support of legislation called “the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA)” originally introduced by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and now sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and on the House side, Rep. Louis Slaughter (D-N.Y.) The measure “seeks to phase out the nontherapeutic use of certain antimicrobial drugs in livestock and poultry.”
Among others, Moseley Braun met with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has been working for years in the area of food safety.
I asked a Durbin staffer about the meeting and was told, “Of course, Senator Durbin and Ambassador Moseley Braun have a long standing friendship from their time serving together in the Senate. Senator Durbin is interested in hearing her views on food safety during today’s meeting. Senator Durbin is the author of the bipartisan Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) which, for the first time in decades, would modernize FDA’s food safety responsibility and authority over 80% of our nation’s food supply. Senator Durbin hopes to bring the food safety bill to the floor in the very near future, potentially this work period.”
Also, Durbin’s office said, “Ambassador Moseley Braun will also be advocating for healthy eating. As you know, she is the founder and president of Ambassador Organics, a company that produces “premium organic foods made from the finest certified organic and Biodynamic® products and ingredients available in the world.” One of Ambassador Organic’s geopolitical goals is to provide small farmers with access to American markets to help sustain agricultural families and communities worldwide.”
Moseley Braun, elected in 1992, was the first African American female in the Senate. In 2004, she sought the presidential nomination. Her team with her in Washington included Chicago based consultants Kitty Kurth and Kevin Lampe.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/07/carol_moseley_braun_returned_t.html
