On Wed, 22 Jan 2003, [EMAIL PROTECTED] quoted:
>A Homeland Security Whodunit
>In Massive Bill, Someone Buried a Clause to Benefit Drug Maker Eli Lilly
>By Jonathan Weisman
>Washington Post Staff Writer
>Thursday, November 28, 2002; Page A45
>It amounted to only two paragraphs at the end of a 475-page bill to
>create the Department of Homeland Security. But the brief provision --
>designed to shield vaccine makers such as Eli Lilly and Co. from lawsuits
>seeking billions of dollars for families of autistic children -- has
>generated a whirlwind of controversy and a mystery as to its origin.
>The paragraphs appeared just days before the House was to vote on the
>legislation. House Republicans rammed the bill through during Congress's
>"lame duck session" and sent it to the Senate, where Democrats,
>demoralized by the Nov. 5 election results, could not to stop it.
>And so, with little debate, Congress granted broad legal protection to
>the makers of Thimerosal, a preservative in childhood vaccines that has
>been circumstantially linked to rising rates of autism and pediatric
>developmental problems. It seemed a lobbying coup for Lilly and its
>allies. Yet, strange to say in Washington, no one seems to want to take
>credit.
>Pharmaceutical lobbyists, Eli Lilly representatives and lawmakers with
>the most knowledge of the Thimerosal issue have denied any role in the
>provision's last-minute appearance. Now, White House budget director
>Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a former Lilly executive, is the latest person
>to formally deny a part.
[...]
>An aide to retiring House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) said
>Armey's staff put the Thimerosal provision in with no prodding from the
>pharmaceutical industry or the White House.
>But several corporate lobbyists said that is not credible. Whoever was
>responsible had to have detailed knowledge of the legal issues, had to
>know Frist had drafted the larger bill, and had to understand exactly
>which provision applied to Thimerosal because the brand name does not
>appear in the text. Two sources said an official at the Department of
>Health and Human Services gave the final approval, a statement that HHS
>spokesman Bill Pierce adamantly denied.
>What is clear is that as recently as two months ago, lobbyists for Lilly
>and other drug makers were on Capitol Hill trying to get the entire Frist
>vaccine bill inserted into the homeland security legislation. But, the
>lobbyists said, they were as surprised as anyone when the two-paragraph
>item was included.
>One senior Republican Senate aide said a member of Frist's staff received
>a call just days before the House passed the homeland security bill,
>saying he had heard a rumor that the Thimerosal provision was included.
>The Frist aide said the lobbyist was confusing that provision with
>another measure to protect makers of smallpox vaccines. The next day, the
>aide said, Frist's staff found the Thimerosal provision in the bill as
>they scanned it in the Senate cloakroom.
>"We don't know how it became part of the House bill," said Rob Smith, a
>Lilly spokesman. "We didn't know it was part of the bill, and it was a
>surprise to us."
[...]
> the deed was done rather clumsily, one lobbyist said. The provision
>was not even hidden. Instead, it was simply tacked on at the end of the
>bill.
Hey, this is great! The newest way to acquire legislative power in
Washington: Be in charge of xeroxing up the official copies of
legislation! The omnibus bills are so huge and complicated, noone can
keep track of what's in them. And you don't even have to be elected!
A clerk position is all you need. Maybe even a temp position in the
xerox room. And no dount an incredible bargain for the corporations:
one-time payoffs out of petty cash, don't even register on the
lobbyist slush fund. ...Wonder how many times it's happened before,
and nobody's noticed, or they're too embarrassed to point it out...
-Pete Vincent
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