Bill Moyers: the Real Show...Congressional hearing was abruptly cancelled

[Guest guest]

> JustSayNo

> Wed, 28 Jul 2004 11:40:04 -0000

> [sSRI-Research] Bill Moyers: the Real

> Show...Congressional hearing was abruptly cancelled

>

> ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)

> Promoting openness and full disclosure

> http://www.ahrp.org

>

>

> FYI

>

> Congressman Greenwoods' retirement statement

> indicates that he had

> negotiated his contract with Biotechnology Industry

> Org--a company

> that represents the very industry he was in the

> middle of

> investigating--on Tuesday.

>

http://www.house.gov/greenwood/press_releases/2004/pr040722.html

>

> Tuesday was the precise day that Greenwood was

> scheduled to chair a

> major congressional hearing at which pharmaceutical

> company

> representatives were to be grilled under oath about

> concealment of

> evidence from physicians and parents, showing that

> antidepressant

> drugs have harmful effects for some children.

> Greenwood felt no moral

> obligation to serve the public interest until the

> end of his elected

> term. He gave the industry a break; instead of

> grilling industry

> representatives, he negotiated a private deal with

> them.

>

> Bill Moyers, PBS host of weekly public affairs

> series NOW, was

> jolted by facts surrounding the cancellation /

> suspension / of the

> hearing----as were the families who were anxiously

> awaiting answers.

>

> " In fact, there was to be a Congressional hearing

> this week into the

> safety of anti-depressant medicine. It seems some

> pharmaceutical

> companies are suspected of keeping secret the bad

> news about their

> products. The hearing was abruptly cancelled when

> word spread that

> the committee chairman is under consideration for a

> big-paying job

> representing-are you ready for this?-the biotech and

> pharmaceutical

> industries.

> You think I'm kidding. But believe me; I couldn't

> make this stuff up

> if I wanted to. Unfortunately, I don't have to. "

>

>

>

> Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

> Tel: 212-595-8974

> e-mail: veracare

>

>

>

> The Real Show

> By Bill Moyers

> t r u t h o u t | Perspective

> Saturday 24 July 2004

>

> First, a confession: I haven't seen Michael

> Moore's " Fahrenheit

> 9/11. " It's not that I haven't wanted to; it's just

> that I have not

> been able to tear myself away from the real show-the

> political

> theatre playing out in full sight right before our

> eyes. Who needs a

> movie when you have the news?

>

> Michael Moore's weird alright, but not as weird

> as Michael

> Powell, our cartel-loving chairman of the Federal

> Communications

> Commission whose idea of the press seems to be

> channeling William

> Randolph Hearst.

>

> Michael Moore's outrageous, but not as

> outrageous as George W.

> Bush and Tom DeLay conspiring to let the ban on

> killer assault

> weapons expire. Bush says he doesn't like all that

> loaded hardware

> lying around, but it's up to the House of

> Representatives to vote.

> The aptly named Tom DeLay, the House Majority

> Leader, on the other

> hand, says-wink, wink-he can't let a vote happen

> because Bush hasn't

> asked him to. After you, Alphonse; after you, Gaston

> - and will the

> last man out please turn on the lights?

>

> Michael Moore has a keen eye for the absurd; I

> know that from his

> earlier wickedly funny films. But we don't need a

> seeing-eye

> absurdist to understand how wacky it is for Ralph

> Nader to get on the

> ballot in different states with the help of a

> conservative outfit

> that's a front group for all those corporate

> interests Nader has

> spent his life trying to cut down to size. Imagine:

> 43,000 Michigan

> Republicans suddenly seized by the vision of " Nader

> the Savior, "

> putting their names on a petition urging him to run

> for

> President. " Save us, Ralph; save us! " Politics makes

> strange

> bedfellows, but this is a ménage a trois, as John

> Kerry might say,

> that would shame the Marquis de Sade.

>

> No, I don't need to shell out $9 for a movie

> when I can watch the

> Democrats in Boston next week piously pretending to

> be taking

> seriously a homily on values from Al Sharpton, or

> when I have C-span

> to watch Congress in action (or not).

>

> * In fact, there was to be a Congressional hearing

> this week into

> the safety of anti-depressant medicine. It seems

> some pharmaceutical

> companies are suspected of keeping secret the bad

> news about their

> products. The hearing was abruptly cancelled when

> word spread that

> the committee chairman is under consideration for a

> big-paying job

> representing-are you ready for this?-the biotech and

> pharmaceutical

> industries.

>

> You think I'm kidding. But believe me; I

> couldn't make this stuff

> up if I wanted to. Unfortunately, I don't have to.

>

>

>

>

----

> ----------

> Bill Moyers is the host of the weekly public

> affairs series NOW

> with Bill Moyers, which airs Friday nights on PBS.

> © Copyright 2004 by TruthOut.org

>

>

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>

>

>

http://www.house.gov/greenwood/press_releases/2004/pr040722.html

>

> News from U.S. Rep. James C. Greenwood

> www.house.gov/greenwood

>

>

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2004

> CONTACT: Stephanie Fischer (202) 225-4276

> Email This Page

>

> James C. Greenwood's Retirement Statement

>

> Yesterday at 3:00 PM I signed a contract in which I

> agreed to serve

> as the president of BIO (the Biotechnology Industry

> Organization)

> effective on January 5, 2005. I intend to fulfill

> the duties to which

> I have been elected until the end of my term. I

> regret that I was

> unable to announce this earlier than now. This was

> not possible

> because the offer was made to me just this past

> Friday. Contract

> negotiations occurred on Tuesday and the BIO board

> approved the

> contract yesterday at about 4:00 PM.

>

> This is a decision I have made in consultation with

> my family and a

> few close friends. As you can imagine it has not

> come to me easily.

> While difficult, it is consistent with the high

> ethical standards

> that have characterized my twenty-four-year career

> in elective

> office. It is also in keeping with a commitment I

> made to myself

> thirty years ago to devote my life to public

> service.

>

> I would have preferred that the timing of this

> change could have

> occurred at a point within the election cycle in

> which I were not a

> candidate. That would have allowed me to make this

> transition more

> gracefully. Unfortunately the departure of BIO's

> current president,

> Carl Feldbaum, is set for the end of this year and

> BIO's search

> process occurred this summer. It would not have been

> ethical for me

> to remain on the ballot and resign after the

> election without

> disclosing this matter publicly. Accordingly I will

> soon withdraw my

> candidacy for re-election with the Pennsylvania

> Bureau of elections.

>

> I do not believe I would have considered taking such

> a position with

> any other trade association. But in my work in

> health care and

> particularly with regard to the issues of stem cell

> research and

> somatic cell nuclear transfer, I have come to

> comprehend the enormity

> of the transformation in human health that is

> possible with the

> advancement of cellular therapy, the development of

> biological

> treatments and the use of the now decoded human

> genome. After twenty-

> four years as a generalist, I now wish to begin a

> new chapter in my

> life in which I can become a specialist in a

> dramatically exciting

> and revolutionary field.

>

> It has been a privilege to serve the people of the

> eighth

> Congressional district. Throughout my career I have

> endeavored to

> serve with honor, hard work and independence. I am

> eternally grateful

> to my family for allowing my service to both disrupt

> and enrich our

> lives. I will forever be proud of the many bright,

> able and devoted

> men and women who have helped me to serve our

> constituency. They have

> blessed us all with their service.

>

> * * *