To: Sen. Bernie Sanders
Senator Sanders: Protect Our Right to Know. Stop the DARK Act!
Please take the lead in protecting the right of consumers to know if their food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by issuing a public statement opposing H.R. 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act, and by urging your fellow Senators to oppose a Senate version of this bill.
On July 23 (2015), the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1599, a bill written by the biotech and processed food industries that preempts states’ rights to pass laws requiring the mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and would prevent passage of a federal mandatory GMO labeling law.
According to a report from Open Secrets, a project of the Center for Responsive Politics, the 275 members of the U.S. House who voted in favor of H.R. 1599 received $29.9 million in contributions from the agribusiness and food industries in the 2014 cycle.
We call H.R. 1599 the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act because the bill legally sanctions corporate deceit by guaranteeing the legal right of food manufacturers to withhold the fact that their products contain GMOs.
Please stand up against corporate influence. Please defend the right of consumers to know if their food contains GMOs, and the rights of states like Vermont to pass laws requiring mandatory labeling of GMOs.
Thank you.
Why is this important?
On July 23 (2015), the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1599, a bill written by the biotech and processed food industries that preempts states’ rights to pass laws requiring the mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The bill also would prevent passage of a federal mandatory GMO labeling law.
We call H.R. 1599 the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, because that is its sole intent--to deprive consumers of ever having the right to this basic information.
Senator Sanders is in a unique position to attract mass media attention to this bill, and to persuade his fellow U.S. Senators to oppose a Senate version of the bill, when it is introduced. After all, Vermont's mandatory GMO labeling law, set to take effect July 1, 2016, would be repealed under the DARK Act. And the Boxer-DeFazio Bill, a federal bill intended to require mandatory labeling of GMOs--a bill that Sen. Sanders has agreed to co-sponsor--would be preempted under H.R. 1599.
We need Sen. Sanders to speak out now, before a Senate version of this bill is introduced and gains traction. If we don't stop this bill, Monsanto will permanently take away our right to know about GMOs.