The Organic Consumers Association has started a campaign to appeal to President Barack Obama to veto “any federal bill that would preempt states’ rights to pass mandatory GMO (Genetically MOdified food) labeling laws.” Via a petition available for signing on the website of MoveOn.org, President Obama is asked to “pledge that he will veto H.R. 1599, or any bill, sent to him by the U.S. Senate, that would prohibit States from enacting GMO labeling laws.”
The U.S. House of Representatives, late last month on July 23rd, passed a bill (H.R. 1599) that would “permanently prohibit passage of any sate or federal law mandating the labeling of GMOS in food.” The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is expected to introduce a Senate version of the House of Representatives bill.
This website previously reported that the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, has released a study, recently published on-line in The Lancet Oncology, that places glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, in the second highest category for cancer risk of “probable carcinogen.” Since 91% of all soybeans and 85% of all corn (as is 88% of all cotton) are grown from Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds, consumers need to know when there food contains GMOs (i.e., is genetically modified food).
The Organic Consumers Association notes that there are two excellent reasons President Obama should pledge to veto any bill that would prohibit States from enacting GMO labeling laws. First, the president in a campaign speech he gave in Iowa in 2007 said, “Here’s what I’ll do as President . . . . We’ll let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified, because Americans should know what they’re buying.” AND second early in his first term as president, President Obama issued an Executive Order against passing federal laws that preempt state laws. In a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, the President wrote that “preemption of State law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the States and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption.”
Frank Barrie (8/13/15)
