____________________________________ From: [log in to unmask] Reply-to: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Sent: 9/27/2013 11:34:45 A.M. Central Daylight Time Subj: GREAT JOB EVERYONE Thanks to grassroots efforts, Monsanto won't have it's way (for now)! * Please invite others to subscribe to this forum, where I post action alerts and the latest news on biotech and our Pollinator Protection Campaign, which is a special project of the Genetic Engineering Action Team. *A reminder: Please do NOT hit REPLY. Rather, email me at <[log in to unmask]> Laurel Hopwood, Chair, Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Action Team http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-funding-bill-strips-controvers ial-provision-on-genetically-modified-crops/2013/09/26/353247ae-26c4-11e3-b3 e9-d97fb087acd6_story.html Senate funding bill strips controversial provision on genetically modified crops (edited) The short-term spending plan moving through the Senate would eliminate legislative language that allows farmers to continue growing genetically modified crops even if a court has blocked their use. The Farmer Assurance Provision - dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act by its critics - was inserted into an earlier government funding bill. In unusually direct language, the provision in the House bill instructs the agriculture secretary to allow farmers or producers to continue to use GM seeds and harvest crops grown with them even if a federal judge finds that they pose a potential risk, overturns their approval, and orders more studies of the plants. Monsanto supports this provision. But consumer groups, organic food advocates and others complained that the measure provided a sweetheart deal for corporate interests and a dangerous way to avoid court review of government agencies. The Senate bill explicitly cuts the crops provision, a move that food safety advocates hailed as an important victory. Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) for leading the effort in the Senate. House aides said they did not expect the agricultural provision to be reinserted. As a possible sign of lessening support for the provision, the 2014 agriculture spending bills approved by the House and Senate appropriations committees - but not the full House or Senate - did not contain the measure. "We take things year by year," said Jennifer Hing, communications director for the House Appropriations Committee. "This year, a decision was made not to continue it." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-BIOTECH-FORUM list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp