How Do We Replace Hatch and Harkin?

When it came to Sen. Richard Durbin's dreaded Amendment No. 2127 getting tabled last week, two names were mentioned as playing a role in that piece getting squashed: Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Tom Harkin.

Hatch and Harkin are champions of the dietary supplement industry—without them, there's no way DSHEA sees the light of day—and they've seemingly been around forever. Water is wet, the sun is hot, and the veteran senators from Iowa and Utah will fend off anyone with an agenda against supplements.

At some point, Hatch and Harkin won't be around. They'll retire (both men are in their seventies) or they won't get re-elected, which is a distinct possibility for Hatch. Then things get complicated, because it's not like we can send a friend request to a senator with pull and charisma.

"We absolutely can't afford to keep thinking we're protected," says Suzanne Shelton, longtime industry publicist, and president of the Shelton Group. "We're not."

"There's been discussion in the industry for some quite some time [about] additional champions," Mike Greene, vice president, government relations, at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, told me Thursday morning.

Part of the problem with finding a new champion, let alone two, is developing that reputation requires "trust over time," Greene says. "House and Senate members have an incredible number of issues, when an industry asks for a favor, it's difficult unless you can trust the individuals you're working with." And it's more than just protecting the supplement industry's best interests; champions, Greene adds, "also help lead."

The industry does have many "friends and allies" in Washington, D.C., Greene says. It's not just representatives like New Jersey's Frank Pallone and California's Mary Bono Mack, but support staff and countless others. The response to Amendment 2127 shows that it may take a village to raise a blockade. Yes, Harkin and Hatch sounded the alarm regarding Durbin's maneuver, but "we all came together," Greene says. "The trade associations, the grassroots [organizations] came in and in a period of hours we were active, reaching out to all senators, we were knocking on doors, [making] phone calls, [sending] emails. How well we work within industry: that's a great example."

James Gormley, a regular SSC contributor and vice president and policy advisor for Citizens for Health, did acknowledge two "up-and-coming" industry champions in the House: Colorado's Jared Polis and Utah's Jason Chaffetz. "The best industry champions and supplement makers/marketers are truly those who put the interests of American consumers first and foremost, and I think Congressmen Polis and Chaffetz ace that test with flying colors…I have been very impressed with their clear thinking and leadership on important issues, such as the NDI Draft Guidance, and with their active participation in the Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus.

"As stakeholders in support of a vibrant and powerful natural products marketplace, we need to do everything we can to help legislators such as Polis and Chaffetz to reach across to the other chamber and invite more senators (over and above Hatch and Harkin) to join the Caucus," Gormley adds, "so that the Senate can become not only better informed about dietary supplements but also less likely to jump on the next anti-supplement bandwagon when it comes through town!"

Greene made another good point: If we look for the spitting image of Hatch or Harkin, we may overlook what the industry needs now. "We want champions and we're working hard to find the next champions, but at the end of the day they existed in a unique time," he explains. "…If it's about defense, we're good. As we look to the future, there may be different threats, so we have to be open-minded."

Companies must take some initiative. "We as an industry continue to do all the wrong things to insure our longevity," Shelton says. "From the fringe players who spike products to mainstream companies that send their products for testing to places knows to be dry labs, right on down to the pathetic amount of money we contribute to campaigns for people who could be our champions in Congress."

Forming an alliance can be as simple as inviting a Congressman or Senator to your facility, so that "they know were legitimate, they know were mainstream, they know what's going on," Greene says. "That's incredibly important to remember. Somebody reached out to Senator Harkin however many years ago to tour a facility." An election year and Congressional sabbaticals are perfect times to send an invitation. 

And, to return back to Shelton's earlier point, it's never to late to write a check.

"I remember being horrified when I first had it explained to me that campaign contributions make the world go round," she says. "It just seemed so wrong. And yet, that is how the game is played. We as an industry contribute a truly pathetic amount of money to campaigns, so why would members of Congress put the time and effort into learning about our issues and standing up for us when they could expend that same effort for industries that more substantially contribute to their reelection campaigns? We've proved to simply not be worth the effort. How stupid is that of us?"