Leahy: Commission’s report falls short on Guard improvements

WASHINGTON — Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, and Sen. Kit Bond, R-MO, the leaders of the Senate’s 80-member National Guard Caucus, Thursday said the long-awaited report from the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves acknowledged problems that keep it isolated from larger defense discussions, but ducked any meaningful solutions.

In response, Leahy and Bond say they will forge ahead with a bill to empower the National Guard in Guard-related decision making within the Pentagon.

In its report released Thursday, the commission agreed that the National Guard lacks input on key policy and budget deliberations that directly affect its missions at home and abroad. The commission also found that the Department of Defense has paid insufficient attention to the mission of providing support to civilians during emergencies at home, despite the Guard’s expertise and capabilities. The panel also agreed with the central thrust of the National Guard Empowerment Act introduced in February by Leahy and Bond.

However, Leahy and Bond say the solutions offered by the commission will achieve little of the bill they introduced.

The National Guard Empowerment Act (S.430) would, among many provisions, place the National Guard Bureau Chief on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the rank of general and make National Guard commander the deputy commander of the United States Northern Command, which is responsible for overseeing the domestic military support mission. The Leahy-Bond bill also would also give the National Guard the ability to budget and purchase equipment related to homeland defense, and it would offer governors greater input on domestic defense related matters through the National Guard.

While agreeing with the central tenets of the Guard Empowerment Bill, the commission was tepid in its recommendation, Bond and Leahy noted. The commission concluded that the National Guard should not have a place on the Joint Chiefs and that the Northern Command Deputy Commander slot should not be explicitly held open for a National Guard general.

“The commission recognized the structural problems that work against the Guard, but their recommendations are thin soup,” said Leahy. “The Guard is a 21st century organization, stuck in a 19th century bureaucracy. The Guard deserves a place at the table when decisions at the Guard are made that affect its readiness, its missions and its effectiveness. The Guard deserves more than lip service to these structural problems. They deserve action. We will move forward with the solutions we have offered in the National Guard Empowerment Act.”

Bond concurred.

“Senator Leahy and I remain committed to passing every facet of the [bill]. The measures the commission did not support remain a vital part of our legislation,” said Bond. “The National Guard is critical to our security at home and in assisting America's military abroad. Despite the Guard's importance, they are being left out of the decision making process. Our legislation will give them the muscle they need.”

Leahy and Bond also released a letter of support for the legislation from the National Governors Association, which held its annual winter meeting this week in Washington.

To read the letter, go to Leahy's website.

Health Department expands peanut butter link to salmonella

BURLINGTON — The Vermont Department of Health is updating the health advisory regarding salmonella contamination of all Peter Pan peanut butter products and certain Great Value peanut butter, to include peanut butter toppings used in shakes and ice cream products.

Product testing by several states has confirmed that all Peter Pan peanut butter products - and jars of Great Value peanut butter beginning with the product code "2111” are the source of the salmonella outbreak.

The bulk peanut butter was used to make the following toppings:

Sonic brand ready-to-use peanut butter topping in 6 lb. 10.5 oz cans. Sonic outlets used the topping until Feb. 16, when the product was recalled.

The topping was used in the following Sonic products:

• Peanut butter shake
• Peanut butter fudge shake
• Peanut butter sundae
• Peanut butter fudge sundae

Carvel peanut butter topping in 6 lb. 10 oz. cans. Carvel used the topping until Feb. 16, when the product was recalled.

The topping was used in the following Carvel ice cream products:

• Chocolate peanut butter
• Peanut butter treasure
• Peanut butter & jelly
• Reese's peanut butter cup sundae dashe, and other customized products containing the peanut butter topping, including peanut butter flavored ice cream in ice cream cakes.

J. Hungerford Smith peanut butter dessert topping in 6 lb. 10 oz. cans: This topping may be used by retail and restaurant outlets throughout the United States but is not available for direct purchase by the public.

There are no Sonic stores in Vermont, but there is one Carvel store in the Village Square in Stratton Mountain.

Symptoms of illness caused by eating food contaminated with salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections for people with weakened immune systems or other underlying health conditions.

Vermonters who think they may be ill from eating the suspected peanut butter should contact their doctor immediately, and notify the department. If Vermonters purchased the peanut butter products at some time, but are not ill, they can dispose of them normally.

Illnesses should be reported to the Health Department at 863-7240 or (800) 640-4374 (Vermont only).

The Health Department will only test Peter Pan and Great Value jars of peanut butter from persons who have been confirmed to have salmonella, and only if the strain of salmonella matches that of the outbreak strain (Salmonella Tennessee).

Posted March 2, 2007

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