FDA

In the wake of the recent salmonella-tainted egg outbreak, Margaret Hamburg, the F.D.A. chief, says the agency needs more authority in order to take a more "preventive approach":

Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency is limited by law to a mostly reactive stance on food safety and argued that it needs a more "preventive approach."

Giving a series of network interviews in the wake of the egg and salmonella breakout, Hamburg said the FDA is taking the issue "very, very seriously." At the same time, she said Congress should pass pending legislation that would provide her agency with greater enforcement power, including new authority over imported food.

"We need better abilities and authorities to put in place these preventive controls and hold companies accountable," Hamburg said as she discussed the approximately 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning and the recall of roughly a half-billion eggs from two Iowa egg distributors.

Here's today's pop quiz: Have you ever heard the head of a government agency say his or her agency needs less authority? If so, what agency, who said it and when?