Joseph T. Burns: “But in these appropriations bills, there are a lot of surprises. One of them is a movement to water down the…”

“But in these appropriations bills, there are a lot of surprises. One of them is a movement to water down the country-of-origin labeling, a law that was passed in the 2002 farm bill. I will tell you that over the past weeks--in fact, before the election--I was in 45 communities and traveled 2,500 miles and found out that my State supports country-of-origin labeling and does not want to see it watered down. I heard from my folks. They strongly support it. In Montana, we want 'U.S.A' on it. They are proud of what they produce. They are proud of the finished product. Of course, I have supported country-of-origin labeling for many years, and I was glad to see it finally pass in 2002 when we passed the 2002 farm bill. Now we are at the task of trying to write the administrative rules on a law that is already in place. We are having problems with that. But as Congress completed the bill and the President signed it into law, we had some folks already trying to dismantle it. That is wrong.”