Austin News

U.S. Senator John Cornyn has called for a scientific and risk-based approach in finalizing the work of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission. In a letter addressed to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Cornyn advocated for policies rooted in sound science, particularly in matters concerning crop protection tools and food-grade ingredients.

Cornyn, alongside Senators Pete Ricketts, Deb Fischer, Steve Daines, Mike Crapo, Joni Ernst, Jim Justice, Jim Risch, Todd Young, Roger Wicker, Chuck Grassley, and Mike Rounds, expressed "strong appreciation" to the secretaries and administrator for their leadership. They emphasized the importance of using risk-based analyses in addressing the nation's health policies while expressing concern over the rising chronic illness rates in the country.

The letter stated, "We write to express our strong appreciation for your leadership and interest in working with each of you to ensure America has the healthiest people in the world... It is essential that policies supported by sound science and risk-based analyses are used to accomplish this goal."

The signatories raised concerns about environmental groups potentially influencing the Commission's work to promote policies that could adversely affect health, economy, or food security. They warned against what they describe as policies masquerading as health solutions, which could result in "shoddy science" and negative impacts on food supply and agricultural production. The letter warned that such influence might lead to increased food prices and reliance on foreign imports.

Cornyn and his colleagues underlined the need to protect American agricultural producers from environmental activists' "attacks on proven-safe inputs," emphasizing that, "Despite insinuations to the contrary, regular testing by FDA and USDA finds that more than 99% of all pesticide residues meet extremely conservative limits established by EPA according to the best available science."

The letter concluded by praising the Commission's efforts to improve health outcomes for Americans and urged the continuation of efforts grounded in scientific and risk-based principles.