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Washington D.C.—The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today applauded final congressional approval of a fiscal 2008 omnibus appropriations bill containing language that prohibits the use of appropriated funds to close or consolidate any of the 13 field laboratories currently operated nationwide by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The language—first introduced as an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee—also prohibits the use of any fiscal 2008 funds for the reorganization of the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA).

“The testing conducted at these FDA labs directly impacts every citizen in our country,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley, who has been leading a yearlong fight against the agency’s reorganization and lab closure plan. “This language is necessary to help the FDA deal more effectively with its critical responsibilities concerning the safety of our food supply and the efficacy of our medical devices, cosmetics and medicines,” she added.

Details of the reorganization—and, in particular, the FDA’s decision to close seven of its 13 testing labs—generated a firestorm of protest earlier this year, led by NTEU and involving bipartisan members of both the House and Senate, including senior lawmakers, consumer advocates, as well as port and elected officials in numerous communities.

President Kelley called the funding restriction, “a good decision for FDA employees and for American consumers.”

Kelley said that NTEU is ready and willing to sit down with the FDA to develop a plan to strengthen efforts to ensure the safety of the nation’s food and drug supply.

“NTEU is already hard at work to ensure that in the next round of appropriations FDA is given the funding it needs to meet its vital missions on behalf of the American people,” she said.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including about 5,200 in the FDA.