Congress protects Monsanto

Hidden inside House Resolution 33, passed to fund the government, was a paragraph by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and allowed by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. Section 735 says if a court rules a plant does not qualify for nonregulation under the Plant Protection Act, the secretary of agriculture must ignore the judicial rule and grant applications to the producer unconditionally.

This gives Monsanto and other genetically engineered plant producers the ability to quickly ram their newest creations through without regulation and without disclosure, illegally violating the Constitution’s separation of powers.

Petitions sent to Sens. Murray and Cantwell and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers were ignored. They had the opportunity to demand this unrelated tag-along section be stricken in favor of food safety and the Constitution.

Instead they stood with Monsanto, allowing accelerated and unabated introduction of new GE food.

GE foods have caused glyphosate and BT-toxin accumulation in cord blood of urban women. Roundup-ready corn has been found with 16 parts per million of glyphosate when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit is 0.7. Glyphosate use is up from 14.4 million pounds pre-GE-crops to over 300 million today.

We need labeling, not hidden acceleration of GE crops.

Ron Cully

Spokane