“Monsanto Protection Act” Triggers a Firestorm of Protest and Public
Outrage
April 9, 2013
We now need to keep the pressure up on USDA not to slip more dangerous
products through without review.
Action Alerts!
It’s being called the straw that broke the camel’s back. Bloomberg, The
New York Times, Politico—media of all political persuasions—ran
searingly critical articles about the biotech rider that the Senate
slipped into
the Continuing Resolution despite messages pouring into Congress via
our and others’ alerts.
The Daily Show mocked Congress, which may have gotten more attention
than all the articles. Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with people like
you telling their friends and neighbors about the provision, and the
outrage was even greater once the legislation was passed.
For a long time
no one was
stepping forward to claim responsibility for the rider, but we now
know that the person behind the Monsanto rider was Sen. Roy Blunt
(R-MO). In 2010, the year of his Senate run, agribusiness PACs
gave him over $243,000. Back in 2005 the Washington Post
wrote that Blunt had “converted what had been an informal and ad hoc
relationship between congressional leaders and the Washington corporate
and trade community into a formal, institutionalized alliance.”
But Sen. Blunt didn’t work alone. The former Senate Appropriations
chair, the late Daniel Inouye (D-HI), was “sympathetic” to Monsanto and
allowed the rider into the Ag Appropriations bill before he died in
December 2012. The biotech industry was
not a big funder of Inouye’s campaigns, but there are a lot of
biotech jobs in Hawaii, and clearly Monsanto had his ear.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski became chairwoman only this past January, and it
was rumored on Capitol Hill that she didn’t want to ruffle any feathers
right away—the rider would be difficult to remove, since it was allowed
by Sen. Inouye who had died so recently. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), who had
resisted such riders in the past as chair of the Appropriations
subcommittee responsible for the Ag budget, retired from the Senate at
the end of last year, so there were no strong voices in the Senate who
were willing to protest the Monsanto provision.
Intense public pressure across the political spectrum—not to mention the
outpouring of media coverage—finally caused Sen. Mikulski to
assert her opposition to the “Monsanto Protection Act” and publically
apologize. Here’s what she said:
Senator Mikulski understands the anger over this provision. She didn’t
put the language in the bill and doesn’t support it either. It was
originally part of the Agriculture Appropriations bill that the House
Appropriations Committee reported in June 2012, and it became part of
the joint House-Senate agreement completed in the Fall of 2012 before
Senator Mikulski became Appropriations Chairwoman.
We appreciate the apology, but it’s “too little, too late,” as they say.
The legislation passed, and it will have the force of law for at least
the next six months.
The biotech industry has good reason to want that legislation, as there
are five very controversial crops being reviewed by the USDA right
now—and of course GMO manufactures are requesting that these crops be
deregulated.
Action Alert! Please send your comments to USDA and tell the agency that
these dangerous crops must not be deregulated. The comment period ends
April 29, so please take action today.
GMO Freeze-Resistant Eucalyptus Action Alert
GMO Insect-Resistant Soybeans Action Alert
GMO Herbicide-Resistant Cotton Action Alert
GMO Herbicide- and Insect-Resistant Maize Action Alert
GMO Herbicide-Resistant Soybeans Action Alert
The Alliance for Natural Health USA
1350 Connecticut Ave NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
Ph: 800.230.2762
www.anh-usa.org
http://www.anh-usa.org/monsanto-protection-act-triggers-a-firestorm-of-protest/
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