On the recordJune 10, 2015
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and the former co-chair of the Congressional Chicken Caucus, I rise in support of H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015. More importantly, as a Congressman for a heavily rural district, with lots of poultry and beef production in middle and southwest Georgia, I rise to support ending this failed experiment and repealing this harmful government mandate. Since its passage in 2002, the country of origin labeling law has caused severe tension between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Canada and Mexico argue that country of origin labeling has hurt their livestock industries, and they have taken their argument to the World Trade Organization, which has ruled in their favor and against the United States four times. We are now out of appeals. Because of the WTO rulings, Canada and Mexico can now request authorization to retaliate against the United States in order to repair the damages they claim our labeling law has caused to their economies. Therefore, we must act decisively to repeal the current COOL regulations on beef, pork, and chicken. If we fail to do so, Canada and Mexico have made clear that they will retaliate against a range of U.S. products within a matter of months by imposing onerous tariffs, resulting in higher costs and lost market share for U.S. producers up to $3.5 billion a year. A hit of that magnitude would be devastating to the U.S.…
