National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Ms. PINGREE. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is a complicated solution to a simple problem. Consumers do have the right to know what is in their food, but the problem is that, right now, when you pick up a box of cereal or a bag of rice in the grocery store, you don't know if you are buying something with GMO ingredients in it. The solution is simple: list GMO ingredients on the back of the package in the ingredient list in plain English.

It is a solution that 64 other countries around the world have already adopted. Most of Europe, Japan, Russia, even China, all require a simple, on-package label that anyone can read. But this bill fails to take that obvious, simple step toward transparency. Instead, it calls for a QR code on the label, which would require a smartphone and a special app and a good cell signal to translate. A complicated solution to a simple problem.

To be clear, knowing what is in the package does not determine the safety or health of GMO ingredients. It is about the consumers' right to know so they can make that decision for themselves.

I am voting against this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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