By a 2-to-1 vote, senators cleared the way for passage as early as today of the GMO-disclosure bill that pre-empts state labeling laws and allows foodmakers to use a digital code, a symbol or wording on food packages to alert consumers to genetically engineered ingredients. That would leave one week for the House to act before Congress adjourns for the summer.
“I remain optimistic sound science and affordable food will prevail,” said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts, co-author of the bill with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the committee. “Both farmers and consumers deserve this certainty.”
A handful of protesters interrupted but did not halt the 65-32 Senate roll call to limit debate, a key procedural step and a test of support for legislation. “Monsanto money,” shouted the protesters, who threw paper onto the Senate floor from one of the elevated galleries that ring the chamber. “Vote no on the DARK Act. It’s corporate legislation,” shouted a woman as she was escorted from the gallery.
Because of the so-called cloture vote, the Senate could vote as early as today on the GMO bill. Democratic Leader Harry Reid objected that there will be no actual debate on the bill or the opportunity to amend it before it is called for passage. “Republicans are jamming this bill through the Senate,” said Reid.
The largest U.S. farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the Roberts-Stabenow bill would “prevent a confusing 50-state patchwork of laws disclosing the presence of entirely harmless ingredients. It is time for the Senate to pass this legislation so the House can do likewise at its first opportunity.”
All but five Republicans, joined by 18 Democrats, voted for the Roberts-Stabenow bill. The majority of Democrats, 27, voted against limiting debate. The five Republicans against the bill were Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Lisa Murkowski and Daniel Sullivan of Alaska.
At a news conference before the cloture vote, five Democratic senators criticized the bill as too narrowly focused to be a reliable guide for consumers. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley said digital codes would be the start of a balky, time-consuming electronic path that would thwart most shoppers. “Here is a so-called labeling bill. In fact, it does the opposite,” he said.
At nearly the same time, Stabenow said on the Senate floor, “This is not about hiding information.” Some 82 percent of Americans own a smartphone, she said, with the figure forecast to rise quickly to 90 percent.
The consumer group Food and Water Watch said the Roberts-Stabenow bill deserved defeat in the Republican-controlled House or, failing that, a veto by President Obama. “Today, the Senate voted to do away with our right to know what’s in our food, revoking a popular and clear state labeling law in effect in Vermont and nullifying all future state labeling initiatives,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the group.