I fear there may be some confusion regarding the vote last week on Senator Pat Roberts' bill to set up a federal, voluntary GMO labeling system. By a 48 (yes) to 49 (no) count, the bill fell short of gaining the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture to move the legislation forward. But in the spirt of Monty Python and Mark Twain, the bill is not dead yet and reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated.
<p>By: Leslie G. Sarasin, President and CEO, Food Marketing Institute<br /> <img src="http://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/u-s-capitol-night.jpg?sfvrsn=0" data-displaymode="Original" alt="U.S. Capitol Night" title="U.S. Capitol Night" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" /></p> <p>There is an oft imitated line from the Monty Python’s comedy, <em>The Holy Grail</em>, in a scene in which a body being thrown on a cartload of plague victims, rises up and says, “I’m not dead yet.” An argument then ensues – played in the comic troupe’s classic dark humored style—as to whether or not he is really dead.</p> <p>There also is Mark Twain’s famous tongue-in cheek line, “that reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.”</p> <p>I fear there may be some confusion regarding the vote last week on Senator Pat Roberts' bill to set up a federal, voluntary GMO labeling system. By a 48 (yes) to 49 (no) count, the bill fell short of gaining the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture to move the legislation forward. But in the spirt of Monty Python and Mark Twain, the bill is not dead yet and reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. You’ll have to pardon a brief foray into Senate parliamentary procedure, but it is necessary to explain the situation. We are all familiar with the term filibuster – a technique to delay or block legislation made famous by Jimmy Stewart in <em>Mr. Smith Goes to Washington</em>, and raised to art form by the likes of Senator Huey P. Long (D-LA). A cloture vote is intended to prevent filibustering and thus requires approval by 3/5 of the Senate. While it was disappointing that last Wednesday’s cloture vote did not succeed, the bill lives on. And in an ironic twist not lost on me, we have the two-week Senate Easter break in which to work on gaining additional support for the bill’s passage.</p> <p>We are convinced that a strong majority of Senators agree that a federal solution is preferred over a state by state patchwork approach to GMO information sharing. Already food companies are encountering labeling challenges such that their submissions meet the GMO labeling standards in one state, but fail in another. It's a bit like having 50 different teachers with varying perspectives grade your paper, an impossible scenario and anyone in favor of interstate commerce knows this is not the route to take.</p> <p>We also believe most Senators are open to the use of varying GMO information disclosure formats, utilizing smart labels, websites, 1-800 numbers, interactive packaging or on-pack labels in providing customers with information about whether products contain GMO ingredients.</p> <p>The debate is focused around whether the disclosure should be mandatory or voluntary with a trigger to mandatory if the voluntary program does not reach the required coverage level. Chairman of the <a href="http://www.agriculture.senate.gov/">Senate Agriculture committee</a>, <a href="http://www.roberts.senate.gov/public/">Senator Pat Roberts</a> (R-KS) and his staff are diligently reaching out to <a href="http://www.stabenow.senate.gov/">Senator Debbie Stabenow</a> (D-MI), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to try to find a mutually satisfactory solution to the challenge. The hope for this bill rests on their being able to reach a compromise that those who already back the bill can live with and one that is significant enough to convince at least 11 additional members of the Senate to support. Of course, all involved know time is of the essence. Once Senate approval is obtained, the bill then moves to the House of Representatives for consideration and finally must arrive on President Obama's desk for his signature. And all of this needs to happen long before we reach the July 1 implementation date of Vermont's GMO labeling law.</p> <p>We appreciate the support, involvement and high level of engagement from FMI members on this effort, and we would not have made this much progress without it, but we have not gotten the ball across the goal line yet. In the coming days, we must thank those Senators who supported this bill and encourage their continued support. We also need 12 more Democratic senators to join the three who broke ranks to support the Roberts bill. That may only happen when Senator Stabenow endorses a compromise that is also acceptable to those already in support of this effort. We have draft letters on the <a href="http://www.foodaction.net/register.aspx">Food Action website</a> for both purposes.</p> <p>None of this will be easy in the highly politicized climate of this presidential primary year. If you have business interests in states with Democratic Senators, it would be very helpful to have calls, letters, emails and/or especially visits during <a href="http://www.fmi.org/forms/meeting/Microsite/dayinwashington2016">FMI’s Day in Washington</a> from you asking them to support Chairman Roberts’ bill or to encourage a more compromising posture and written proposal from Senator Stabenow. Also, there were several Republican Senators who voted No on the Senate floor and it is important to engage them and those who might have states rights concerns unless they understand the interstate commerce implications of inaction from you. Chairman Roberts will join us during the lunch on April 20th at the <a href="http://www.fmi.org/forms/meeting/Microsite/dayinwashington2016">Day in Washington</a>, so you can give him your thanks and ask further questions at that time.</p> Your participation in this effort at this time is of supreme importance to the food retail industry. I hope we can count on you.
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