Greetings from South of the Border. Some of you attended yesterday's session where we talked about Plain Language in the United States -- mostly my agency, FDA in the Department of Health and Human Services. For those of you who missed it, I'll do a 2-minute recap, then give you a snapshot of some Plain Language successes at other US agencies.

During the last Administration, the President and VP put Plain Language on our radar screen when they issued a memo directing all US Federal Agencies to use Plain Language. In the current Administration, we looked for a Plain Language spokesperson & champion – and we may have found one in my own Department, HHS. But, while details are being worked out, the impetus to write clearly that began officially in 1998 continues in many Federal agencies. My own agency is a good example.

Every year FDA recognizes clearly written documents as part of our regular annual award ceremonies. This is unique in the Federal Government. And FDA's website is so clearly written, it routinely wins awards.

Plain Language has become such a part of FDA's culture that it even played an important role in the days following September 11. Last October, we had the challenge of explaining the meaning of "presumptive positive" to FDA's mailroom staff who may have been exposed to anthrax. This was very difficult…and unfortunately the messages were not reviewed to see if they were written "plainly".

But several months later, just days before the 4th of July, we were successful in persuading scientists to use Plain Language and quickly revise info about potassium iodide dosages for children. This was important because of a threat that a "dirty bomb" would explode on the Mall near the Washington monument during 4th of July festivities, releasing radioactive iodide into the atmosphere. Clearly parents would need to quickly understand what to do, if their children were exposed and needed to take potassium iodide to prevent radiation poisoning.