News and Commentary

Groups Urge Action to Fight DARK Act in U.S. Senate

Word on the street is that Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) may sponsor a Senate version of the DARK Act as soon as Congress returns from August recess. A Democrat and Republican Sponsor are both needed to forward a bill in the U.S. Senate.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 26, 2015) – Now that the U.S. House of Representatives onJuly 23 voted 275-150 to pass H.R. 1599 – dubbed the DARK Act because it calls for stripping states and Congress of the right to require GMO labeling – consumer groups are waiting to see who introduces a version of the bill in the U.S. Senate. A Democrat and Republican sponsor are both needed.

Word on the street, reports the Organic Consumers Association, is that Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) may sponsor a bill as soon as Congress returns from August recess, unless an anti-H.R. 1599 editorial in his home state newspaper, the Bismarck Tribune, causes him to reconsider.

Meanwhile, OCA has identified 12 Democrats who could potentially support a DARK Act bill in the Senate, in part because these Senators voted against a 2013 amendment to the Farm Bill that would have guaranteed states’ rights to require GMO labeling. Democratic Senators identified include Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and others.

OCA has made DARK Act Talking Points available here and a petition available here.

OCA, along with other leading consumer advocacy groups including Center for Food Safety, Food Democracy Now!, Just Label It, GMO Inside, Food and Water Watch and others offer a number of resources to contact Senators urging them not to support a version of H.R. 1599 in the Senate.

They all emphasize one thing in common: protect our right to label GMOs and contact your legislators today before the DARK Act gets one step closer to law.

You can contact your Senator here: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/.

Here’s how to contact these groups and get involved:

Steven Hoffman is Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. He is former Editorial Director of Natural Foods Merchandiser Magazine, former Program Director of Natural Products Expo, co-founder of the LOHAS Forum, and served as lead fundraiser on the Prop 37 in CA, I-522 in WA, and Prop 105 in CO ballot initiatives to label GMO foods. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.

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