Stop the Monsanto Protection Act - Last Chance

Stop the Monsanto Protection Act - Last Chance







Activist Post

A rider (Sec. 735) that would prevent courts from halting illegally
planted GM crops (sometimes courts find fault with USDA-approved GM
fields) was slipped into the Senate Continuing Resolution spending bill
HR 933. It blind-sided an angry populace last week, giving little time
to voice complaint before it was to go through the Senate.

Last Wednesday morning, HR 933 passed with the new rider dubbed by
activists as the Monsanto Protection Act therein. The rider has nothing
to do with proposed government spending to keep it running for the next
six months. But it is unknown whether this incongruous rider will last
six months or permanently.

According to GovTrack.us, the only thing left before the bill becomes law is the President's signature. Food Democracy Now! is asking you to join the more than 200,000 people who used their forms to contact Obama and Congress in an effort to strip the rider. This is not a petition. And those are only the people who used their site - countless other organizations alerted activists in the last two weeks.

If this "must-pass" bill gets signed into law, it would be the
point of no return for unhindered Monsanto havoc. They would trump
federal court power and courts would not be able to use authority to
stop sales or planting of any illegal or hazardous genetically modified
crops. Strange for biotech giants to want this rider, as the USDA
already gives them unheeded approval without safety testing of their
crops. Rider (Sec. 735) clinches Monsanto power - if the USDA or court
system wants to halt GM crops or revoke approval, they cannot. It's also
an open backdoor to whisk in future approvals.


This action is detrimental to farmers who want to fight against
Monsanto's patent infringement lawsuits, those for the preservation of
organic crops against GM contamination, and our export economy, as so
many other countries have adopted GM bans. This Monsanto-driven rider is
simply an industry ploy to continue to plant GM crops even when a court
of law has found they were approved illegally - But it's being voted on
urgently.

What can we do? Multiple options - follow these easy steps:

Food Democracy Now! was pivotal in the alerts and created a new form letter in the following link here:


The
Monsanto Protection Act could pass as early as next week and we need
your help today. Click here to stop the Monsanto Protection Act as it
heads to President Obama and tell your member of Congress to stand up
for your rights and the Constitution!

• If you don't like the pre-formatted letters, then consider using them as a guide and write your own.
  
• Better yet, respectfully contact the White House.
  
• Follow this link to enter your info and find your reps, senators, and contact the White House - guided info is there to help with your phone call.
  
• Or, you can call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
  
• To reach the White House to call President Barack Obama's line: (202) 456-1111.
  
• Remember that it is activists who call it the Monsanto Protection Act - it's Section 735 of HR 933 that we want stripped
  

This is not a petition and this is not 'slacktivism.' Sneaky,
hidden riders that are quickly voted through leave us few options and
little time. But you can lend your voice. Whether it passes or not,
that's another bridge to cross with other actions awaiting. The
political and corporate biotech leaders are doing very little to gain
back trust, but we can let them know we are watching, voting, and have
had enough.
This could be our last chance to stop Monsanto from corporate rule and full immunity. Tell
President Obama here to block Sec 735, and Contact your Member of
Congress to express your outrage at granting a blank check for Monsanto -
Every voice counts!

Senator
Jon Tester (an organic farmer), joined by Senators Boxer, Gillibrand
and Leahy introduced an amendment (#74) to strike the dangerous rider
from the CR. You can still voice your support for reviewing the Tester
amendment - reportedly ignored and not added when this bill passed the
Senate. Even if the Tester amendment voting is over with - make your
opinion known to your Congress people, Obama, and let your Senators know
your disappointment. It couldn't be easier with pre-formatted letters
that go directly to your Senators.

Food Democracy Now! reports that
there are 13 crops waiting for approval. The USDA is known for sweeping
in approvals, letting Monsanto do their own safety evaluations, and
taking their word. And,
<blockquote class="tr_bq">The floodgates are literally open for
Monsanto, DuPont and Dow Chemical’s new GMO crops that are resistant to
more toxic chemicals like 2,4-D, Agent Orange and dicamba that will replace failing Roundup Ready GMO crops. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">According to legal experts, this provision would create a precedent-setting limitation on judicial review and is a dangerous assault on fundamental federal and judicial safeguards needed to protect America’s farmers, citizens and the environment from the wanton approval of Monsanto's new GMO crops.</blockquote>Don't
forget to thank the Senators who stood up and supported the Tester
amendment if you live in Montana, California, New York, Vermont, Alaska
or Connecticut - Senator Tester and his co-sponsors Senators Boxer,
Gillibrand, Leahy, Begich and Blumenthal introduced the amendment to
strip Section 735 from the bill.

Previous report from Food Democracy Now!:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Clearly Monsanto and the biotech industry are
getting desperate and want to try an end run around a growing movement
of farmers and citizens who are rejecting their products and calling for
GMO labeling in an effort to make sure their new GMO crops can evade
any serious scientific or regulatory review. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In
classic form, the biotech industry has cleverly hidden their toxic plan
under the deceptive title of a "Farmer Assurance Provision" (Sec. 735).
In truth, the "Monsanto Protection Act" would allow the biotech
industry to continue to flout American legal precedence and violate the
constitutional separation of powers set forth by our Founding Fathers. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In
short, the "Farmer Assurance Provision" is the greatest threat to
farmers' and citizens' rights that Monsanto and the biotech industry has
ever devised and it must be stopped - today! </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">This
current rider is a response to the successful lawsuits that farmers
have filed to prevent the sale, distribution and cultivation of GMO
sugarbeets and GMO alfalfa, both of which were forced to stop from being
planted while the USDA finalized full environment reviews. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Now,
the new provision included in the Senate Continuing Resolution spending
bill will allow biotech seed and chemical companies to openly skirt
even minimal protections of human health and environmental concerns. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">We
need your help to make sure your Senator demands that Appropriations
Chairman Mikulski pulls this dangerous and unconstitutional rider, and
support any amendment that would strike the biotech rider from the new
Continuing Resolution.</blockquote>
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund is also alerting of another rider
and urging contact to Senators to oppose the Monsanto rider and support
of the Tester Amendments:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">ANTI-COMPETITIVE RIDER (Section 742) - Livestock & Poultry Impact

The anti-competitive rider (section 742) deals with a law from the
1920s, the Packers and Stockyards Act ("PSA"), which was intended to
provide protections against anti-competitive behavior in the livestock
and poultry industries. In essence, the PSA was the Sherman Antitrust
Act for agriculture. Although the PSA is a good statute, the USDA never
properly implemented it. And that failure over the years has allowed
large corporations to practice a variety of abusive, unfair, and
deceptive practices that undermine the free market. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">A
coalition of family farmer, independent rancher, and consumer groups
fought for a provision in the 2008 Farm Bill directing the USDA to issue
implementing regulations under the PSA. And we won. But the fight
wasn't over. The big meatpackers managed to hamstring many of the
proposed regulations. And now they want to completely eliminate the few
protections we did get, leaving the meatpackers free to continue their
abusive practices that hurt farmers.

Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2013/03/stop-monsanto-protection-act-today.html
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