Political Quotes

“I rise today as co-chairman of the House Biotechnology Caucus in strong support of House Resolution 252. Approvals for biotech commodities are critical to the future of biotechnology. By filing a complaint with the WTO, the administration has taken the necessary steps to respond to the European Union's moratorium on biotech food products. The EU moratorium is a clear violation of Europe's WTO obligations. The policy has cost American farmers hundreds of millions of dollars in export sales and seriously hindered the adoption of an enormously beneficial technology. Moreover, the hysteria brought on by the EU policies has begun to spread beyond European borders. It was time to act. Specifically, the European Union represents a $1 billion per year market for U.S. soybeans and their products, a $500 million market for U.S. corn gluten feed, and a former $300 million per year market for the U.S. commodity corn. The U.S. lost its commodity corn export business to the European Union in recent years over issues related to the acceptance of biotechnology-enhanced products. As the U.S. already exports more than one-third of its agricultural production and farm States such as Illinois export more than 40 percent of their agricultural products, it is essential that the EU model for food safety and precaution is stopped before their policy and attitudes towards biotechnology affect U.S. export markets around the world.”