Senator Bernie Sanders, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), announced on July 22 that the committee voted 12-10 in a bipartisan manner to advance his legislation aimed at addressing diabetes and obesity among American children and families.
The proposed legislation would institute the first federal ban on junk food advertising targeted at children in the United States. It would also require the Food and Drug Administration to implement health and nutrient warning labeling, direct the National Institutes of Health to investigate dangers posed by ultra-processed foods, and establish a national education campaign for children and caregivers through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I am delighted that the HELP Committee passed the Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act that I introduced. For decades, the food and beverage industry has made massive profits by enticing children to consume unhealthy products purposely designed to be overeaten — fueling the twin crises of type 2 diabetes and obesity in America. We cannot continue to allow these greedy corporations to put their own profits over the health and well-being of our kids,” Sanders said. “Nearly 30 years ago, Congress had the courage to take on the tobacco industry, whose products killed more than 400,000 Americans every year. Today, on a bipartisan basis, the Senate HELP Committee finally stood up to the greed of the food and beverage industry.”
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is responsible for legislating on public health issues as well as overseeing agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to its official website. The committee influences federal regulations affecting health policy across all states; it also provides oversight for laws impacting workforce rights.
In recent sessions such as during the 119th Congress—when Bill Cassidy served as chair—the committee continued its focus on supporting worker rights while protecting public health, according to its official website.