Muslims For Kucinich

Kucinich gave the following speech in Congress on July 27, 2005:

"Mr. Speaker, the following is an abridged transcript of a film entitled 'We Become Silent,' written and produced by Cleveland resident, Kevin Miller. The topic is the potential effects of the Codex Alimentarius Commission's guidelines on vitamin and mineral supplement safety."

Narrator: FEAR.

Its darkness causes humanity to make awful choices. With dreadful power, fear can rule our lives -- and paralyze lofty hopes and dreams ... in an instant.

It is the antithesis of god, fear is -- a destructive dark side -- the ghost that haunts the brain. It is a universal trait -- a global affliction -- and a tool deployed all-too-often by those intent on inflicting control over the masses.

Robert Verkerk, Ph.D. -- Fear preys on the most vulnerable among us. Fear sells. And nowhere is fear peddled more shamelessly than in the fields of medicine and human nutrition.

Narrator: Fear anesthetizes us ... it coerces us ... making us believe that we can do little on our own to prevent or treat disease ... and forces entire NATIONS to kneel at the altars of orthodox medicine.

Robert Verkerk, Ph.D. -- And of course, the fear-mongers are also preying on the fear of disease. And the solution the fear-mongers give us are drugs, yet drugs are the single most dangerous thing we can put in our mouths.

Narrator: It's a sad fact that Pharmaceuticals have become the dope of modern man -- and make no mistake, we are addicted. Last year, between 3-5 billion prescriptions were written in the U.S. alone. And for all of its miracles and heroism, western medicine has also left disaster in its wake. The burdens of drug side effects are being exposed daily: Prozac, Vioxx, Celebrex, Baycol, Lariam, and Zoloft -- just to name a few -- are deeply uncomfortable reminders that secrecy and sales have often circumvented safety.

There's also the crippling burden of health insurance, and the MILLIONS who are debilitated by a wave of red ink, bankrupted as a result of an unexpected illness that they could not afford. As if by design, health choices are limited, information is frightfully scarce, lives are ruined ... and the truth be damned.

Scott Bukow: Business is business, and people don't like competition. Smart business people may not always do something that's best for the people or for someone's health.

Narrator: In addition to these painful realities of life, however, an abundance of evidence now suggests ... that this holy reverence towards modem medicine -- may be killing us.

Carolyn Dean, MD -- I wrote Death by Modern Medicine, inspired actually after writing a paper called Death by Medicine ... And what I found after analyzing government databases and peer-reviewed journal articles ... I found that 784,000 people are dying annually, prematurely, due to modem medicine intervention. When I added up the figures I could get my hands on, I came up with that astounding number, and also found studies that said we're only capturing 5-20 percent of the actual deaths ...

Simmon Wilcox, MD -- We're clear that the status quo is equal to a premature death in this country ... Someone needs to stand up and scream "FOUL, SOMETHING'S GONE AWRY." Somebody needs to stop this madness, and say to the public, "There's a better option ... We will no longer accept the status quo."

Narrator: But the fear machine is well oiled by petrochemical dollars and a near worldwide monopoly in medicine. It works overtime to prevent the truth about dietary supplements from getting out to the public. Governments, particularly in Europe and the United States, seem all-too-eager to comply with the robber barons of healthcare. It has always been so ... as evidenced by this forty-year-old government film ... which is but one of many in their arsenals.

FDA Film: 1966: But it's still the same old snake oil ...

Title appears: "Health Fraud Racket -- Presented by FDA"

Narrator: During the 1990s, however -- despite generations of institutional bias -- American consumers won critical battles against the FDA and the medical/pharmaceutical establishment.

Joseph Bassett: In the mid-90s, there were movements to put all supplements on prescription basis and in all of the countries where they've done that it more than doubled the cost and made them not available and it's really a freedom of choice issue ... it's a consumers issue ... (1:30) so we were fighting for the right to access for our own use, our family's use, and for our businesses. And fortunately, the health consumer agreed. (1:40) ... we were actually able to marshal, one day in a period of hours, one million phone calls to their government ... (5:08) It was really a citizens' uprising.

Narrator: This massive consumer movement for medical freedom was invigorated when the FDA became enveloped in controversy of its own making. The agency approved a guns drawn raid at the clinic of Dr. Jonathan Wright, and also raided dozens of health food stores in a pre-meditated power-grab. Consumer outrage fueled Hollywood to become immersed in the debate, and actors like James Earl Jones and Sharon Stone became part of a national campaign for medical freedom of choice. When Mel Gibson came aboard, he documented his views in memorable fashion:

Police: Freeze!

Mel Gibson: Hey guys ... guys ... it's only vitamin C! You know, vitamin C, like in oranges?

Narrator: The result of the consumer outcry was that DSHEA -- the dietary supplement health education act -- passed overwhelmingly in 1994. This became the only national law that linked the use of nutrients in dietary supplements to reduced risk of disease. And since DSHEA helped ensure relatively free access to a wide range of dietary supplements for consumers, activists pulled back from the front lines, thinking that their struggles were over. Others like Joe Bassett knew better ...

Joseph Bassett: We're in a particular industry ... the health food industry, that's always been under attack. It's never stopped, it still isn't stopping because you have vested interests. In our country you have everybody using vested interests and the one's who are really entrenched use the government.

Gerald Kessler: I believe that DSHEA has always been under attack except for the first few years after DSHEA was passed. And the present attacks are very broad ... which means worldwide, and some of the attacks are just specific to the Unites States.

Narrator: Now, a bureaucratic shadow called Codex Alimentarius threatens to silence the medical opposition forever, both here and abroad. But Codex began innocuously enough in 1963, as a creation of two arteries of the United Nations: The Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization. Back then, nearly everyone endorsed their two major goals: to provide nutritious foods for developing nations -- and to shape guidelines for dangerous industrial chemicals in the food supply.

Within the past decade, however, Codex Alimentarius has altered its mission dramatically -- many say negatively so -- to include a wide swath of products including dietary supplements and genetically modified organisms.

Mr. Scott Tips began serving as a U.S. delegate to Codex in June of 2000. During the first meetings, he did everything he could to communicate with the head of the US Delegation.

Scott Tips, National Health Federation: I, in a flurry of notes, passed comments and suggestions (and the like) to Elizabeth Yetley, who was the American delegate there -- it made no impact. In fact, the only impact I had was collar her during a break and basically be very tough with her about a particular clause that she was trying to remove from the final report, that particular sentence or clause basically said that the United States supports the right of consumers to have free access to vitamins and minerals, and she unilaterally yanked that from the final report.

Narrator: This attitude by Ms. Yetley, who is an employee of the U.S. Food and Drug administration, is reflective of codex meetings in general. In an attempt to shine light on those who are unilaterally making public policy private, health freedom advocate John Hammell took a small video camera into two Codex meetings in 1998. These grainy videos are all that remain of the tapes, which mysteriously disappeared.

Yetley: Moving right along, agenda No. 5 on vitamins and minerals

Hammell: Are you going to strike that second paragraph?

Yetley: Well this is a draft position ... they're only draft positions. They're not the final version or formal position.

Hammell: You've seen the letter from Ron Paul, then? This was signed by Ron Paul, Congressman Stump and Congressman Cool.

Yetley: We have received alot of mail and we've looked at all of it.

Hammell: So you acknowledge this is the will of congress and of the American people correct?

Yetley: there's a wide range of opinions this one ...

Narrator: Despite multiple written requests -- and the intervention of a US Congressman -- the FDA refused to answer any questions about Codex, dietary supplements -- or even labeling -- for this documentary. But judging from this rare interview with Michael R. Taylor, then-deputy commissioner for policy at FDA, it is obvious that the agency is unaccustomed to honest intellectual inquiry from the media.

Kevin P. Miller: You stated your concern and the FDA certainly has on L-Tryptophan. What about your concern about something like Prozac, very well documented, 28,000 adverse reports, 1600 suicides associated with that drug.

Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for policy, FDA: Drugs that go thru our very rigorous testing and review process are very well understood chemicals. And drugs are recognized to have both risks and benefits, that's why they go through a rigorous evaluation. And when those products are put out on the market, we have a good scientific understanding of the risks and benefits. And that's laid out in very detailed labeling that physicians then use to decide whether to prescribe those products for their patients. Side effects are part of pharmaceuticals, that's recognized, and that's why we're so careful scientifically. There's just no comparison between that situation and dietary supplements, which have not been subjected to that kind of study ... have not been evaluated by FDA, and a large part of the problem with these supplements is that we simply don't know about their safety, we don't know about their benefits, yet there being marketed in some cases for serious disease-related purposes. THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Kevin P. Miller: Well obviously they would respond by saying that it was the only natural alternative to some of these kinds of drugs, and that's a concern to people who want natural alternatives. And since the cases against Prozac have been so high, people would question whether L-Tryptophan is being judged under the same standard, if you will.

Michael R. Taylor: Well ...

FDA Employee Interrupts: Kevin, that wasn't on the list of things we were going to go over.

Kevin P. Miller: Well, he mentioned L-TRYPTOPHAN and I thought I would follow-up.

Narrator: As the Producer tried to get an answer from the deputy commissioner of the FDA, Mr. Taylor, seemingly lost his patience with the tone of the interview.

Michael R. Taylor: Why don't you turn the camera off so we can talk ... (LONG PAUSE). You know, I'm happy to talk about this but I don't want to spend the whole morning on it ...

Narrator: But of course, Mr. Taylor was anything BUT happy to discuss the safety record of Prozac versus the amino acid L-TRYPTOPHAN -- which the FDA banned outright when Prozac was approved by the agency. And it is important to note that the Food and Drug Administration has assigned Mr. Taylor's wife --

Christine Lewis-Taylor -- to World Health Organization, where she is now chairwoman of the "Nutrient Risk Assessment" project.

Jim Turner: I don't think you can say that anybody from the FDA has ever been a friend of dietary supplements. Anybody ... They are friends of the classical reductionist scientific system that is based on cause and effect and doing a bunch of huge costly studies which are the backbone of the pharmaceutical industry which are the driving of the force of our health care system which is driving us into bankruptcy and killing between 200,000-700,000 people a year.

FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): Some of them honestly believe in the useless medication. More, however, are the bunkum artists, without pity or conscience, willing to risk the lives of fellow human beings to line their own pockets.

Narrator: Institutional hypocrisy and bias are endemic at the Agency. In fact, the FDA has made no secret of its intentions to harmonize the U.S. vitamin and mineral standards with Codex, thereby reducing the dosages of common vitamins and minerals to ridiculously low levels. They've said so before Congress, in the National Register, and even on their own Web site.

Turner: That system is not a good system and the dietary supplement guideline the vitamin and mineral guideline mimics the ideas of that system and tries to push them onto the international stage for vitamins and minerals. Bad thinking all the way around.

Robert Verkerk, Ph.D: We are at a stage in society when a large number of people, consumers and patients, are waking up to the fact that the healthcare system that they've placed their trust in for decades, is not delivering the healthcare they need. They're beginning to appreciate that very often if they have major diseases, like cancer or heart disease, that the so-called "solution" to these diseases is, in fact, killing them.

FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): Today, all new drugs must be proved safe and effective (Vioxx, Celebrex images) before they can be marketed. In other words, the medicine must be safe -- and do what's claimed for it.

Robert Verkerk, Ph.D: And this is why we see this incredible growth in consumer demand for natural products. And of course, just as the consumer is starting to make decisions about what they want to do in healthcare, the regulators have decided, with a lot of pressure from big industry to say, "You can't have it -- it's reserved for us."

Narrator: When the WTO -- the world trade organization, became a reality in the 1990s, the power of codex was heightened immeasurably. This new worldwide body -- devoted solely to the cannonization of trade standards, gave Codex the enforcement capability that had eluded it for decades. Two U.S. Congressmen -- a Democrat and a Republican -- have a philosophical divide on free trade, but agree completely on the dangers of the WTO and Codex.

Rep. Ron Paul: The WTO is said to be set up for free trade. I happen to like free trade. I like low tariffs and I like goods and services flowing across borders.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: Since economics in college I was always skeptic of the whole theory of free trade and it always crystallized around the NAFTA and WTO Agreements.

Rep. Ron Paul: I am a champion of national sovereignty, so I do not like the idea of getting involved with what the Founders called "entangling alliances."

Rep. Peter DeFazio: I remember talking to Mickey Cantor the President's special trade representative and I studied a little bit and I said I can not understand how we are going to bind ourselves to this agreement which has a secret dispute resolution process, which has no rules regarding conflict of interest and they will essentially pre-empt U.S. laws

Rep. Ron Paul: But then when you go to the next step of becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, it means to me that we as a people and as a Congress, we give up too much of our responsibilities and prerogatives.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: And he said no no no you don't understand. They can't pre-empt our laws. I said, you're right, they just can fine us for having our laws and we can pay for perpetual fines because we have laws that protect consumers of the environment or we can repeal our laws.

Rep. Ron Paul: But now we are talking about turning over to a world organization that is going to force harmonization.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: And so it's working as designed as far as they're concerned, which is to protect corporate interests and overrule governments and stick it to consumers.

Rep. Ron Paul: And they'll do under the name of free trade and globalization and pretend that they are on the side of freedom. But actually they are not -- they are on the side of regulations and special interests and protection of certain big corporations.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: If there is a higher corporate good to be served by breaking the law and having the FDA work with the CODEX and drag the U.S. into this nightmare then they're all for it and they are doing it.

Rep. Ron Paul: So we do what the WTO tells us and that's why I am very leery of the WTO and I just soon we get out of the WTO.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: This would be the ultimate of government reaching into our health lives which would be unbelievable, not even our government, some bureaucratic, diffuse, multinational secretive government.

Rep. Ron Paul: It's the power in the WTO that we have to deal with ultimately ... and I don't like the trend.

Narrator: On Capitol Hill, legislators are now debating the merits of yet another trade agreement called CAFTA -- the Central American Free Trade Agreement. This latest Trojan Horse was wheeled into Washington as a saviour for a faltering economy. But as consumers in Europe could confirm, it will only lead to more backroom deals -- deals that could spell the end of health freedom as we know it.

John Hammell, IAHF: Now, people think that that could never happen here. Probably at one time people in England thought that would never happen there, and yet their government ignored over a million signatures on petitions on this issue saying, "Sorry guys, we are now a member of the European Union, and we must harmonize to European law." If we aren't careful in our hemisphere the same thing will happen as a result of the free trade area of the Americas (FTAA).

Narrator: But the trend towards the WTO, NAFTA, and now CAFTA being used to harmonize laws and regulations to favor pharmaceutical interests, has long been a reality in the European Union. German representatives at Codex began to push the idea of creating safe upper limits on vitamins and minerals, and this was favored in the UK until Dr. Robert Verkerk and numerous others began orchestrating a precise legal, scientific and public relations strategy to stop it. His organization, the Alliance for Natural Health brought a landmark legal challenge to the EU Food Supplements Directive. In April 2005, The Advocate General in the European Courts declared that the EU Directive should be declared "invalid" under EU law. In July of 2005, UK and European consumers will discover the fate of this legal battle -- and it is anything but a sure win.

Julian Whitaker, MD: What's coming down the line from Codex and from Europe is very disturbing. First, you've got 450 million people over there. Secondly, they have the most restrictive nutrient access of any of the free world. Third, you just had a woman in France arrested ... and is now undergoing trial ... for selling 500 mg vitamin C tablets.

Narrator: Between the draconian regulations of the EU Supplement directive and the ominous Codex guidelines which will be voted on in July 2005, there is little doubt that health freedom lies in the balance -- in Europe, in America, and throughout the world.

Julian Whitaker, MD: The Whitaker Health Freedom Foundation is supporting this movement in Europe ... because there's no question (that if) we stop it in Europe, its effect on the United States will be less. And anyone who thinks that Codex or the European Union or the World Trade Organization ... when it comes to their restrictive policies in Europe is not going to have an effect on the United States is crazy ... You've got 450 million people over there. They have enormous trade with us. They deal in steel, in textiles, et cetera, and if they are upset with our libertarian policies regarding nutrient supplements, it's going to affect other economic systems. Now, we might have sovereign protection, but good gosh that will fly away at an instance with the stroke of a pen if a trade agreement is challenged ... What's happening in Europe, just like the trade winds, is coming our way. And no one can argue in a reasonable fashion why that is not going to happen. That is happening.

Narrator: It has been said many times that democracy is the dream of all who are oppressed ... the hope of those imprisoned by fear or injustice. But the sad truth ... that which is almost too sad to acknowledge ... is that the betrayal of democracy began long ago when profit replaced the will of the people ... and corporate lobbyists became the masters of the universe.

Rep. Peter DeFazio: Alarm bells are going off everywhere. The American people are way ahead of the Congress and figured this out and it is only a matter of time until congress is beaten into coming around on these issues. But if we don't do it soon it may be too late.

Narrator: If it is true what a great leader once said, that "Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about things that matter," then freedom has already begun to atrophy because of our inaction. Slowly, sovereign rights fade away, as surely as the ink on an old Declaration is removed by time.

The pursuit of Happiness ... the promise of equality ... of personal choice ... are chipped away by complacency ... and, over time, become barely visible in the world around us. If we had treasured it more, some say, if we demanded government cooperation -- not interference -- if we had exercised our freedoms every day, every week -- just like the forces of power and money have done ... If ...

If only.

Gerald Kessler: I think we should all get together and fight for our rights. I think that these are God-given rights. I think that this was a legacy that was given to us at the beginning of time ... and we should fight like crazy so that people can maintain their rights, from now and forever.

Robert Verkerk, PhD: There are some who say that this is a battle that cannot be won, we are David -- they are the Goliath. But it is too important to sit this out and let multinational corporations and regulatory agencies decide which freedoms we will be able to enjoy. From Africa to Asia to Europe to the Americas we must stand together now for future generations.

Narrator: This, then, is your call to action ... it is one of enlightened self-interest ... a righteous cause that even the high priests of profit cannot defeat. It is a real drug war ... a fight for medical freedom ... a struggle for human rights.

Joseph Bassett -- And so you get the government you deserve if you don't speak up ... the only way to have good government ... is if the citizens stand up, and they're not doing it. They have to stand up and be counted ... and if you put enough effort, the good guys win. It needs to be done ...

Narrator: Modern medicine has led us to Babylon ... and a wasteland of expensive and often ineffective options, If we do not act -- if we become silent -- governments will be free to replace the teachings of all ages with toxic lies. Timeless medicines -- foods and herbs with which we have evolved -- culled from thousands of years of collected wisdom -- will be swept away -- crushed under the myopic weight of corporate greed.

Yet we often forget how much power we actually wield -- and that we are the creators of our own place on this planet. Amid the sea of faces, there is an honorable cartel forming ... forming one for the benefit of mankind.

FDA Film, Health Fraud Racket (1966): You must join the battle by protecting yourself -- and your family from health fraud. When you're in trouble that's not always easy. But in the end, being victimized can be far worse. It can mean not only your money, but your life ...

Credits: Kevin P. Miller, Writer/Producer.