Political Quotes

“The United States should not let other countries dictate U.S. food policy. This would be absurd. It is exactly what this amendment does. The proponents of this amendment seemingly wish to scare the public with unjustified warning labels on all products produced with any technology or, short of that, punish companies that have the audacity to engage in foreign commerce. Just because European policy has been driven by fear-mongering, we should not allow it to be so here in the United States. We should not succumb to this angry rhetoric. We should lead the world in getting this policy right. Now, let's just say, for sake of argument, we were to pass this amendment. I would like to ask: Who would be responsible for enforcement of such a quagmire? What agency licenses exports of food? What agency would be responsible for monitoring where in the world those products went and what specific requirements were placed on them by the countries receiving those products? Assuming such information is actually obtained, that information is likely proprietary business information, exempted from disclosure between agencies by the Freedom of Information Act. Here in the United States, we rely on the FDA for responsibility for food inspection, but as many proponents of mandatory warning labels are quick to point out, the FDA inspects less than 1 percent of the products. Are the proponents just doing this for show?…”