Every time you take action and send an email to Congress, you are building the health freedom constituency. Not only are you letting Congress know about a particular issue, you are also letting Congress know that there is a tidal wave of voters who are watching and who care about the fact that health decisions, all of them, are private decisions, not the business of government! And you make it easier for the Natural Solutions Foundation to gain access to Congressional decision makers to let them know what we want them to do – and to not do. They know, when we walk into their offices, who we are because you have told them who you are and what you want and do not want from them. “Oh, the Natural Solutions Foundation”, they say, “We get lots of emails from your people. How can we help?” You, through your activism, provide entree to the halls of legislative power. You are the real power behind the Natural Solutions Foundation.
Some say that your communication does not matter. They are wrong. In the press of events and impacts on Congress, Members and their staff actually miss a great deal and, as a long time Senior Aide to a California Representative answered when I asked him how he keeps on top of all the issues and legislation in the Congressional system, “There is no way we can do it by ourselves. We depend on people who care about something to tell us about it and keep us informed about the legislation and the issues!”
What that means is that every time the Natural Solutions Foundation goes to Congress (and we try to go at least once a month for several days at a time), we go prepared with fact sheets, Congressional Briefings, information on legislation and suggestions for solutions to problems the Congressperson either is involved with or should be. The response is astonishing. The staffers value our input and we have been asked by members of Congress for language for new legislation to fix problems we identify and care about (often created by the industry friendly actions of agencies like the FDA) .
Earlier this month, Natural Solutions Foundation Trustee Ralph Fucetola and our Congressional Education Director, Charlie Frohman, visited Congress. Click here (http://vitaminlawyerhealthfreedom.blogspot.com/2008/02/educating-congress.html) to read Ralph’s report. Here is Charlie’s letter thanking the staff for their time (http://drrimatruthreports.com/index.php?p=529) and here () is Ralph’s follow up letter to Congress. need letter
On another, related front, natural supplements like DHEA, although protected by DSHEA (the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, 1994) which classifies nutrients as foods rather than drugs, are under attack as if they were steroids. Senator Hatch, a long time friend of supplements, defended them once again and the Natural Solutions Foundation is watching. Here (http://vitaminlawyerhealthfreedom.blogspot.com/2008/02/senator-hatch-defends-dietary.html) is Ralph’s blog on the subject.
Ralph beat back the FDA when they tried to ban DHEA last time so he is uniquely qualified to report on this battle. And it bears watching, of course, because the piecemeal attack on supplements does not let up. To the Pharma Phriendly FDA, any stick will do to beat a dog and they are determined to beat the natural medicine dog to death since it steals thAnd then there’s the problem of an out-of-control FDA. Yesterday, according to the AP, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who heads an investigative panel that conducts oversight of the agency, said in an interview with The Associated Press that FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach should step down because ‘it’s just a total lack of leadership.’ Stupak, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said he had lost confidence in the commissioner and other top FDA officials over the handling of inspections and oversight by the agency.”

We agree and have been meeting with Congress for months on these issues. Can we take credit for this position by the Congressman? We cannot be not sure, but our boots on the ground certainly have helped to bring about this crisis in Congressional confidence in the FDA.

Take for example the FDA policy (which they have foisted on Codex and are implementing in the US as well) of criminalizing your right to communicate about, or use, the health benefits foods confer. Remember the FDA 2007 CAM Guidance setting up the FDA’s “right” to turn any food used for health purposes into “an untested drug” (like cherry juice, since it is good for arthritis)? The Natural Solutions Foundation found out from the FDA Receiver of Dockets that paper comments (e.g., letters) were not tabulated, only archived at the FDA Reading Room, and that the FDA website was “broken” and could not accept comments. Two Natural Solutions Foundation Trustees called the FDA Receiver of Dockets and persuaded her to give us HER email address so our supporters could let the FDA know how they felt about this Guidance. That meant that the Natural Solutions Foundation website was the only electronic means available in the US to submit comments to the FDA on this wildly misguided Guidance. Five hundred and eighty eight thousand Natural Solutions Foundation supporters visited our site to tell the FDA just how bad an idea they thought their Guidance was.

Of course, all of this activity costs money. We know you value our efforts to educate and help Congress do the right thing for health freedom. That’s why it makes sense to give generously and make a recurring tax deductible donation (http://drrimatruthreports.com/index.php?page_id=189) to the Natural Solutions Foundation. Now would be a great time! Your activism and your financial support are the life blood of health freedom.

And don’t forget to sign up for the free, secure Health Freedom eAlerts (http://drrimatruthreports.com/index.php?page_id=187) and ask your contacts and friends to do the same. Your voices protect our health freedom.

Thanks for your support!

Yours in health and freedom
Dr. Rima

Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
www.GlobalHealthFreedom.org