Monsanto has convinced Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and committee member Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to kill Vermont’s GMO labeling law.

With Stabenow and Klobuchar’s support, Monsanto is two Senators closer to the 60 votes needed to get the Senate to schedule a vote and pass the DARK Act, the bill that would Deny Americans the Right to Know about GMOs.

TAKE ACTION: We can’t let Monsanto get the 60 votes needed to get this bill out of the Senate—because once that happens, it’s just a matter of time before the House jumps on board, and Congress votes to kill Vermont’s GMO labeling law. Please call the Senate today at 888-897-0174.

In March, the Senate couldn’t get enough votes to pass the DARK Act. We have to make sure that the Senators who voted against the DARK Act in March don’t flip their votes to a “yes” now that the bill has been re-written. So it’s important that we find out how many Senators may change their votes. Click here to learn if your Senator voted for the DARK Act in March. If your Senator voted “no” and you learn that he or she plans to flip their vote to “yes,” please let me know at alexis@organicconsumers.org.

No matter how your Senator voted last time, please call today to reiterate that you expect the Senate to reject this new version of the DARK Act.  Here are some talking points you can use when you call your Senator.

“I’m a member of the Organic Consumers Association and I'm calling to express my opposition to the Roberts-Stabenow GMO labeling bill. This bill would kill the Vermont law that labels GMO foods as ‘produced with genetic engineering.’ Vermont's law is working. GMOs are being labeled. Food prices are staying the same. The labels are being used nationwide. The Roberts-Stabenow bill wouldn't require words on the package. It wouldn't label all GMOs. It would take at least 2 years to take effect. And, it’s essentially voluntary because there would be no enforcement for non-compliance.”

Why did Sens. Stabenow and Klobuchar join the DARK side?

Stabenow voted against the DARK Act twice, once in committee, and a second time in a full Senate vote.  She claimed to support “a pathway to a national system of mandatory disclosure that provides consumers the information they need and want to make informed choices.” Some considered her a “champion.”

Now it’s clear that Stabenow is locked in a dance with the devil, forced to side with Monsanto and the other corporations who fund her campaigns.

Dow Chemical is one of Stabenow’s top funders. Dow makes the infamous Enlist Duo, a custom cocktail of two deadly herbicides: Monsanto’s Roundup, a probable carcinogen, and 2,4-D, which was half the formula of the Vietnam-War-era defoliant. The combination is so dangerous that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been forced to reconsider its approval.

Stabenow has chosen to stand with Dow and Monsanto instead of constituents like Kryssi Jones, a young No GMO 4 Michigan activist who grew up playing in Roundup Ready GMO cornfields and now has breast cancer.

Stabenow also takes money from Kellogg’s. Kellogg’s says it will comply with Vermont’s law, but it is suing and lobbying to kill it.

Klobuchar has already flipped her vote once, voting for the DARK Act in committee and then against it on the floor, in a hopeless attempt to please both the voters who support GMO labels and the companies that fund her. Her campaign donors include several companies pushing for the DARK Act, among them Cargill, Land O’Lakes, General Mills, and Coca-Cola. (Yes, that’s right, many of the companies that are already complying with Vermont’s law are still trying to get Congress to kill it.)

Klobuchar is also on Monsanto’s “payroll.”

TAKE ACTION: We can’t let Monsanto get the 60 votes needed to get this bill out of the Senate—because once that happens, it’s just a matter of time before the House jumps on board, and Congress votes to kill Vermont’s GMO labeling law.

Please call the Senate today at 888-897-0174. Click here to email your Senators.

There is one ray of light in the DARKness. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is standing up for his state and the 9 out of 10 Americans who want the right to know about GMOs. He issued the following statement:

“I am very proud that Vermont has led the country in GMO labeling. This bill would preempt what Vermont and other states have done. GMO labeling exists in dozens of countries around the world. It is not controversial. Already major food companies in our country have begun labeling their products. People have a right to know what is in the food they eat. I am going to do everything I can to defeat this legislation.”

We need to do everything we can, too. Please call the Senate today! Thank you!

Thanks!

Alexis & the OCA Team