SPOTLIGHT EMAIL NEWSLETTER #37 Please visit the controversial LIBERTY LIBRARY BOOKSTORE ONLINE! The store now has the full Liberty Library catalog and a shopping cart system! http://www.spotlight.org/store/commerce.cgi? IN THIS ISSUE: Your Medical Records At Risk States Angry At Feds Still No Gulf War Cure Your Medical Records At Risk Health and Human Services is in the process of establishing regulations that provide almost any organization or individual with your private medical records. By Don Harkins The Campaign to Label Gene tically Engineered Foods, a Seattle-based political advocacy organization, is urging Secretary of Agri culture Dan Glickman to reconsider his position that government-mandated labeling of genetically modified foods is unnecessary in the coming year. During a Jan. 10 press conference to review the 1999 accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Agri culture (USDA) and preview priorities for this year, a reporter asked Glickman if he foresaw in the year ahead any changes in the U.S. ap proval process or in any labeling requirements in this country. In response, Glickman said that he didn�t see �what I call any mandatory or regulatory activities taking place from the government which will order anybody to do anything with respect to these issues whether it is labeling or anything else.� The USDA is in the process of forming a biotechnology advisory committee, a broad-based group of people from various sectors of agri cul ture and non-agriculture to help the agency deal with particular is sues, such as labeling requirements, he said. Glickman�s remarks show that �he is out of touch with the will of the American people,� said Craig Winters, executive director of the Campaign to Label. �Polls consistently show a vast majority of people surveyed want labeling of these controversial genetically engineered foods. It�s time for the U.S. government to react accordingly.� Winters� group is asking its members and supporters to flood the USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., with letters in support of labeling, as well as to members of Congress and other government officials. �The USDA has a record of going against the wishes of the American people on many food issues,� Winters said. �Two years ago, the agency wanted to broaden the definition of �organic� foods to include genetically engineered foods, nuclear-irradiated foods and foods grown with sewage sludge fertilizer. It took 280,000 letters from concerned Americans to prevent that action.� There already is an effort in the House to require any food that has been genetically engineered or contains genetically modified ingredients to bear the following label: �United States government notice: This product contains genetically engineered material or was produced with a genetically engineered material.� The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act, House Resolution 3377), is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich from Ohio (Here�s to Your Health, January 2000). H.R.3377 is being considered by the Subcommittee on Health and Environ ment under the House Commerce Committee. It has 40 co-sponsors. According to Winters, two-thirds of the foods on supermarket shelves are genetically engineered or contain genetically modified ingredients. The federal government has come under fire for not adequately testing genetically engineered foods for health and environmental risks, he said. States Angry At Feds Just how angry are states at the federal government for repeatedly undermining their rights? Exclusive to The SPOTLIGHT By Don MacPherson & Don Harkins The Arizona legislature is considering a bill establishing conditions under which Arizona would secede from the United States and lead an effort to es tablish a new government. The �Abolish Federal Government; State Sovereignty� measure was sent to the floor of the Arizona House on a 9-0 vote by the Rules Committee. Earlier, the Federal Mandates and States� Rights Committee passed the bill, 3-2 on Jan. 26. The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Karen Johnson, chairman of the federal mandates panel, and Dean Cooley, both Mesa Republicans. Arizona would secede if and when: � The president, Congress or any federal agency declares the Constitution suspended or abolished or attempts to impose martial law without a state declaration; or � Any federal order attempts to make it unlawful for individuals to own firearms or attempts to confiscate guns. If either of these actions are taken by the federal government, �Arizona, when joined by 34 of the other 50 states,� the measure says, �declares as follows: that the states resume all state powers delegated by the Constitution . . . and as sume total sovereignty.� The states are to re-establish and re-ratify the present Constitution as the charter for the formation of a new federal government, to be followed by the election of a new Congress and president and organization of a new judiciary �following the precedent and procedures of the Founding Fathers,� under the legislation. In the interim, �individual members of the military return to their respective states and report to the governor until a new president is elected.� Each state is to be assigned a negotiated, pro-rata share of the national debt and all land within the borders of a state belong to the state unless �sold or ceded to the central government by the state�s legislature and governor.� When 35 states agree to form another government, the remaining 15 will be invited to join. �Several states delayed ratification of the Constitution and three states made clear their position regarding sovereignty by stating that �the powers of government may be resumed by the people whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness,� � the Arizona resolution says. �Eventually, all 13 of the independent states ratified the Constitution� and �joined the new Union while retaining their sovereignty as states,� it says. �The states made the new central government sovereign only to the extent that the states delegated it limited and specific powers.� The Constitution is a �treaty among sovereigns� and under treaty law when one party violates its terms the other parties are automatically released from its obligations, the resolution says. �The many violations of the Constitu tion by the federal government include disposing of federal property without the approval of Congress, usurping jurisdiction from the states in such matters as abortion and firearms rights and seeking control of public lands within state borders,� it says. Under Article V of the Constitution, it notes, three-fourths of the states may abolish the federal government. Under the precedent established in Article VII, it said, fewer states can withdraw. Jane Hull (R), the Arizona governor, has yet to comment on whether she would veto the bill. Still No Gulf War Cure Although 1 in 7 Gulf War veterans reports symp toms associated with Gulf War Syndrome, the government is no closer to a cure. Exclusive To The SPOTLIGHT By Andrew Arnold The General Accounting Office (GAO) claims the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have wasted nine years and more than $130 million on Gulf War illness-related research. The shocking conclusions were an nounced to a House subcommittee on ve terans affairs on Feb. 2. GAO, Con gress� budgetary watchdog, found that: � Research and investigations are moving slowly. �Basic questions about the causes, course of development, and treatments of Gulf War veterans� illnesses remain unanswered,� says the GAO re port, Gulf War Illnesses: Basic Ques tions Unanswered. � The DOD Office of the Special Assis tant for Gulf War Illnesses is �not effectively coordinated� with a broader government working group established to plan research and review and disseminate findings about the illnesses. Consequent ly, experiments on depleted uranium and pyridostigmine bromide were duplicated and time was lost. There has been no assessment of what works and what doesn�t. � More than $20 million worth of work orders were awarded to contractors improperly in FY 1997 and �98. Rep. Jack Metcalf (R-Wash.) initiated the hearing. He said taxpayers spent $133 million and �far too little has been accomplished to actually help veterans suffering from Gulf War illness.� Many were bothered by the lack of results after nearly a decade. �There seems like there is a lot of data, but none of it leads anywhere,� said Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) �There is a disconnect here between science and policy.� Rep. Thomas Allen (D-Maine) called for a �conceptual shift. The focus should be on veterans.� The GAO�s director of special studies and evaluations, Kwai-Cheung Chan, told the subcommittee neither the DOD nor VA knew whether Gulf War veterans had gotten better or worse since a report was issued in 1997. He also predicted on-going research will not provide any �meaningful information� regarding the cause of GWS. �Basic questions about the causes and treatment of [veterans�] illnesses still remain unanswered,� Chan said. �These agencies still have not adopted one or more case definitions that might focus federal research efforts.� After Chan and two aides blasted the White House�s efforts, witnesses from the DOD, VA and HHS were silent on the charges. Instead of answering, five agency reps calmly read their prepared statements�which had nothing to do with the charges made by the GAO. The silence further infuriated members of Congress who were already visibly upset. A scenario posed by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to Gen. Dale Vesser (ret.), deputy special assistant to the deputy secretary of defense for Gulf War illness, set the tone. �General, if the United States military were engaged in a major military operation with unlimited resources befitting the wealthiest nation on earth, and we were fighting that war for nine years, and at the end of nine years the military objectives were not one step closer to being obtained�in the sense of winning�would it be fair to say that it would be in the country�s best interest to remove the generals who are in charge of that military operation?� Sanders asked. �Of course . . .,� the general replied. �We are not winning this battle. We are losing it,� Sanders said. �We have tens and tens of thousands of people who are sick . . . We are talking about treating sick veterans. We are zero steps closer today.� Subcommittee Chairman Chris Shays (R-Conn.) issued a stern warning to the panel before it was saved by the bell. (The hearing was interrupted by a congressional vote.) Before members left to vote, Shays said: �Every accusation that the GAO made about the working group stands as fact unless you refute it.� The panel took advantage of the timeout to regroup and rally in the second half, but its credibility had suffered. �In my judgment, there is enough truth to the GAO�s concerns,� Shays said as he dismissed the panel. **************************************************************************** Subscribe to THE SPOTLIGHT! Only $59.00 for 1 year or $99.00 for 2 years. Every week, get the important stories that the popular media either miss... or ignore. For around $1.00 per issue, THE SPOTLIGHT is a steal! Don't wait any longer. Make sure that you never miss another issue. Subscribe now! To subscribe online, visit our SECURE server at www.spotlight.org. You can also mail your subscription to THE SPOTLIGHT, 300 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. 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