Political Quotes

“The amendment offered to H.R. 1599 by Congresswoman Pingree and Congressman DeFazio would replace the underlying bill with a voluntary certification program for non- genetically engineered foods, enabling companies that elect to go through this process to certify that their food is non-GE and share this information with consumers through a seal established by the USDA, similar to the organic program. This amendment is a step forward in providing consumers with the information they want. While this amendment would preserve the ability of States and localities to act in regards to the labeling of non-GE and GE foods, it unfortunately does not address the problem many of us have heard about today, and that is a patchwork of food labeling requirements across the country. As I have said previously, I can't support preempting State labeling laws without establishing a national mandatory labeling standard in its place. Moving forward, I hope that we can work with the Senate to strike a balance that will address concerns we have heard on both sides of this issue.”