Monsanto to Block GMO Labeling Unless We Block Monsanto
RootsAction Team
On Wednesday, May 15, the U.S. House Ag Committee passed the King Amendment, a measure some say could take away states' rights to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs).1
Help our friends at the Organic Consumers Association stop this outrage!
If passed by the Senate, the King Amendment would take away states' rights to "pass laws governing the production or manufacture of any agricultural product, including food and animals raised for food, that is involved in interstate commerce."
The amendment was proposed by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), largely in response to a California law stating that by 2015, California will allow only eggs to be sold from hens housed in cages specified by California. But policy analysts emphasize that the measure, broadly and ambiguously written, might be used to prohibit or preempt any state GMO labeling or food safety law.
Will the King Amendment survive the Senate? No one can be sure, say analysts. However few believe that Monsanto will give up. We can expect that more amendments and riders will be introduced into the Farm Bill -- even if the King Amendment fails -- over the next month in an attempt to stop the wave of state GMO labeling laws and initiatives moving forward in states like Washington, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and others. That’s why we’re calling on consumers to ask their Congress members to reject any rider or amendment that would preempt states' rights to label GMOs.
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-- The RootsAction.org team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, and many others.
Footnote:
1. Organic Consumers Assoc.: Would Your Congress Member Vote to Wipe Out States' Rights to Label GMOs?