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Call your United States Senators. Ask them to send the Omnibus Appropriations
Bill back to conference to remove a provision delaying Country of
Origin Labeling. Reach any Senate office through the Congressional
Switchboard: 202-224-3121.
Country of Origin Labeling was adopted by Congress and signed into
law as a part of the 2002 Farm Bill. It requires labeling of all
fruits, vegetables and meats with their country of origin. It is
scheduled to go into effect in September 2004.
Labeling gives consumers the right to know the
origin of their food and allows farmers and ranchers to market to
consumers who choose domestic food for their families.
The House Agriculture Appropriations bill stripped
out funding to write meat-labeling rules, a backdoor move by the
meatpacking industry and other opponents of labeling. Thanks to
your calls, though, the Senate voted 58-36 to keep full funding
in its version of the bill.
Then, behind closed doors and under pressure from
the White House, Congressional leaders snuck a provision into an
omnibus appropriations bill delaying labeling for two years. This
provision - which is designed to kill labeling - was not in the
House OR the Senate bill.
WORC and 165 organizations, representing 50 million
farmers, ranchers and consumers, wrote to President Bush and leaders
in Congress protesting this backdoor maneuver. But the House approved
the Conference Committee report, with the Country of Origin Labeling
delay, on December 9. The Senate will vote on the Conference
Committee report on January 20.
Senators, and the leaders who snuck this language
into the bill, must hear from you between now and January 20. Your
calls are needed to keep Country of Origin Labeling.
Call your Senators or talk to them while they
are home for the holidays. Ask them to send the Omnibus Appropriations
Bill back to conference committee to remove the provision delaying
Country of Origin Labeling. Reach any Senator's office at 202-224-3121.
Tell these leaders in Congress that they have soured your holiday
spirit by sneaking a clause into the appropriations bill delaying
labeling until 2006. Tell them to cut it out.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee
Phone: 202-224-7363 Fax: 202-228-0248
Representative Bill Young (R-FL)
Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
Phone: 202-225-2771 Fax: 202-225-9764
Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Chairman, Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee
Phone: 202-224-5270 Fax: 202-224-9087
Representative Dennis Hassert (R-IL)
Speaker of the House
Phone: 202-225-0600 Fax: 202-225-0697
Senator Bill Frist (R-TN)
Majority Leader
Phone: 202-224-3135 Fax: 202-228-1264
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