In its first test of the year, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee agreed on a bipartisan update of child nutrition programs that cost $22 billion a year. Heading toward a bill-drafting session on Thursday over preempting state GMO food-labeling laws, a party-line split appeared likely. No Democrats had spoken in support of chairman Pat Roberts’ plan and no Republicans were opposed publicly to it.
Republicans hold an 11-9 advantage on the committee. A party-line vote would be a rarity for the committee, whose leaders often spend weeks in building a consensus on legislation — the child-nutrition bill being a case in point.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, a committee member and a Republican from the No. 1 corn-growing state, said it would be difficult for the preemption bill to pass the Senate without Democratic support: “I’m going to support the chairman’s mark. I hope other members of the Senate come to their senses as well and support the legislation.” State GMO labeling laws are “intended to disparage” foods made with genetically modified organisms, he said.
Most of the corn, soybeans and sugar beets grown in the United States are genetically engineered, so there are GMO ingredients in most of the processed foods sold in grocery stores.
Zippy Duvall, president of the six-million-member American Farm Bureau Federation, told reporters, “We believe Sen. Roberts’ bill … is a good beginning.” Besides preempting state and local labeling, the bill would put the USDA in charge of a voluntary program for labeling foods as GMO or non-GMO. Labeling is voluntary at the federal level. No company has labeled its products as made with GMOs.
Opposing the Roberts bill were the National Farmers Union, the second-largest U.S. farm group, and the National Organic Coalition. “We support mandatory labeling of foods derived from genetically engineered plants, although we do not have policy on what such labeling should look like,” said NFU. The organic coalition asked for particular attention to four Democrats on the Agriculture Committee: Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.
Stabenow said she was working with Republicans on an alternative to Roberts’ bill that would delay state GMO-labeling laws for two years, to be followed by mandatory nationwide labeling, reported Bloomberg. The news agency quoted Stabenow as saying Roberts’ bill “doesn’t address consumers’ right to know.”
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, unsuccessfully proposed a farm-bill amendment in 2013 to allow states to label GMO products. Vermont’s first-in-the-nation GMO food labeling law takes effect July 1. The other senator from Vermont, Democrat Pat Leahy, is a member of the Agriculture Committee.