When you think of a salad bar in your local grocery store or the sandwich options available at the deli, imagine all of the possible combinations. Believe it or not, the possibilities are in the tens of millions if that location offers just 30 toppings.

For every creative sandwich, salad, or pizza combination, there’s a local store keeper or restaurant owner who makes it their mission to offer that choice to us — their customers.

As Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has said, we should be giving those small businesses “the freedom and the flexibility that they need to provide the best decisions to their customers and their businesses.”

Clearly, that’s not the Food and Drug Administration’s approach. Instead, as McMorris Rodgers pointed out today in a press conference on Capitol Hill, “…the FDA [is] telling these businesses they have to use a one-size-fits-all approach to notify their customers of these nutritional information. It’s another example of a federal agency that is disconnected from its mission.

This week, the House is voting on McMorris Rodgers’ common sense menu labeling bill, an initiative that takes power out of Washington, D.C. and puts it back in the hands of Americans — giving them the freedom and flexibility to make common sense decisions.

This is all part of the choice the American people have in 2016.  It’s a choice between top-down, one-size-fits-all policies from Washington D.C., or a future where the American people are empowered — through their elected representatives — to make their own decisions and pursue their own dreams.

Click here to learn more about this legislation. Following are McMorris Rodgers’ remarks from today’s press conference on Capitol Hill.

Click to Play

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Remarks as Delivered:

“As we go to work on our bold, forward-looking agenda, one priority that we’re focused on is restoring ‘we the people’ and that mandate in our constitution.

“We certainly hear the frustrations of Americans across this country. We know it’s because the citizens don’t feel their priorities are being reflected by a top-down, ‘government knows best’ approach.

“That frustration extends all the way down to our local deli counters, grocery stores, and convenience markets whose owners are being told what to do by the FDA in the form of a 400-page menu labeling rule.

“When I think of the local salad bar or sandwich options that are available at the deli, I imagine all the possible combinations. You’re thinking about thousands and thousands of different combinations. And here’s the FDA telling these businesses they have to use a one-size-fits-all approach to notify their customers of these nutritional information. It’s another example of a federal agency that is disconnected from its mission. 

“I’m pleased to join in voting on this legislation, and I’m proud to have worked on this legislation in a bipartisan fashion. It’s the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015. We’ll be voting on it later this week and it really returns the decision-making back where it belongs, in this case, with the small business owners, giving them the freedom and the flexibility that they need to provide the best decisions to their customers and their businesses.

“This is really about trusting Americans through their elected representatives to make the best decisions and fulfill the dreams that they have. It’s all part of the choice that we’re offering Americans as we head into 2016.”

Other Participants:
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA)
Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL)