Oppose the GMO Riders: Must-pass 'fiscal cliff' bill could end up becoming 'Monsanto Protection Act'

Thursday, December 13, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: fiscal cliff, Monsanto Protection Act, GMO

(NaturalNews) Both Congress and the White House are said to be in the process of frantically trying to concoct an appropriations bill to thwart the impending "fiscal cliff," which is expected to arrive at the end of 2012 when the provisions of the Budget Control Act of 2011 come into effect. But corporate agriculture and the biotechnology industry both want a piece of the legislative pie as well, which is why they are pushing to basically turn any proposed fiscal cliff bill into the ill-fated Monsanto Protection Act by attaching so-called "GMO Riders" onto its primary provisions.

The health freedom advocacy group Alliance for Natural Health - USA (ANH-USA) has issued a warning about the developing appropriations bill that Congress is currently working on to solve the fiscal cliff crisis, as it will more than likely contain special provisions for the biotechnology industry to continue thrusting genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into the food supply with little or no resistance. According to ANH-USA, Monsanto and its cronies already know that any proposed fiscal cliff bill will more than likely pass with flying colors because the "crisis" it addresses is urgent, so the industry is heavily lobbying Congress to add special provisions for GMOs that must be stopped.

In an announcement tied to a corresponding Action Alert, ANH-USA explains that Big Biotech will likely try to tack on the so-called Farmer Assurance Provision to the fiscal cliff bill, which would strip federal courts of their authority to halt the sale or planting of GMO crops that have not undergone an appropriate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) review. If passed, this provision, which has been nicknamed the Monsanto Protection Act, would allow the Secretary of Agriculture to arbitrarily grant temporary approval permits for the planting of illegal GM crops, including those that have been shown to be toxic and deadly.

Monsanto wants agricultural 'czar' to have full authority over GMO approval process

In addition to this, another GMO Rider expected to sneak its way into the fiscal cliff bill would outlaw the scientific review of any and all GM crops under the guidelines of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, or any other federal or state environmental laws. Under this scandalous provision, only the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be allowed to provide any type of analysis for GMOs -- and even if the agency ultimately produced negative findings with regards to a particular GMO, such evidence would have no effect on the "Frankencrop's" approval.

In other words, Big Biotech wants to strip all remaining barriers that stand in the way of approving new GM crops by basically enacting a federal free-for-all as it pertains to the regulatory process for the planting and sale of GMOs. And if Congress capitulates to the industry's demands and sells its collective soul for the 30 pieces of silver that Monsanto is offering in exchange for attaching these GMO Riders, the American people can expect to see even more deadly GMOs pop up unexpectedly, and unlabeled, throughout the food supply.

Please take the time to tell Congress to OPPOSE any and all GMO Riders that might be proposed for the fiscal cliff appropriations bill. You can use this ANH-USA Action Alert portal to do this: http://www.anh-usa.org


Sources for this article include:

http://www.anh-usa.org

http://dailycaller.com