Lets take a trip back in time. Although not all of this is directly connected to section 753 I feel that it does have it's part to play in the overall scheme of things.
I would like to start at August 2011, The Budget Control Act of 2011. Both chambers of congress vote to raise the debt ceiling to prevent a government shut down. Under the BCA-2011 Congress was required to come up with a working budget by January 1, 2013.
As we all know no budget was every agreed upon and the "Fiscal Cliff" deal was brokered with little time to spare before the January 1 deadline (You can find my Blog on the Fiscal Cliff here).
Jump to the end of January. H.R. 325 To ensure the complete and timely payment of the obligations of the United States Government until May 19, 2013, and for other purposes, some refer to is as the "No Budget, No Pay" bill. Congress suspends the debt ceiling until May 19, 2013 in order to give them more time to form a budget. Remember that the majority of the sitting members of Congress were in office in August 2011 when the BCA-2011 was signed into law.
We arrive at 3-20-2013, Senate pass H.R. 933, The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, The House passes it the next day. This bill does not address the budget problem, it only kicks the can down the road, for the third time in as many months.
We are also now at the climax of our story. Only after H.R. 933 was approved by the Senate on 3-20 did anyone get a chance to read it and find out that, buried 78 pages deep in the spending bill is hidden Section 753, The Monsanto Protection Act. After all, as Nancy Pelosi said: "We have to pass the bill so we can find out what is in it...". Between March 21, when the House passed H.R. 933, and March 26, when President Obama signed it into law, a petition gathered 250,000 signatures to urge the President to veto the bill and have Section 753 removed from it. The petition to deport Piers Morgan for his attacks on the 2nd Amendment gathered just over 100,000 signatures in a months time. It should say something for how strongly people feel on this issue when a quarter million signatures was gathered in only 5 days.Originally the provision seemed to appear out of thin air. It passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee under Senator Barbara Mikulski. What was confusing at first is that Section 753 should not have made it to the Appropriations Committee unless it passed through either the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees. The confusion comes due to the change of leadership at the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013. Senator Herb Kohl retired from the Senate at the end of 2012, Senator Kohl as Chairman of the appropriations subcommittee in charge of the Ag budget typically rejected such pieces of legislation. The new Chairman of the Ag committee is Senator Mark Pryor from Arkansas, another big Ag state and home of Tyson Foods. Shortly after this transition Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of the full Senate committee died just before Christmas to be replaced by Senator Mikulski, who knew little or nothing of the Ag bill that would soon be passed by her committee and become part of H.R. 933.
So, the real question is, who drafted this piece of legislation that so obviously favors big Agra and GMO giants like Monsanto? Dubbed The Monsanto Protection Act by it's opponents it should be no surprise that the author is none other than Monsanto itself. But how does Monsanto get something like this to the Senate? Well, you could donate $64,000 to the campaign funds of a certain Senator who, conveniently enough, is from the same state as the GMO giant. If you guessed Senator Claire McCaskill you would be DEAD WRONG! That's right ladies and gentlemen, this bill was sponsored and co-drafted by Senator Roy Blunt formerly Congressman Blunt of Missouri's 7th Congressional District. Congratulations to those of us living in South-West Missouri, we are indirectly responsible for this piece of garbage that will ensure that our food supply will continue to be poisoned by the people who brought us Agent Orange, Aspartame, and Dioxin.
Beyond all of this, the Vermont Legislature is attempting to pass a bill that will require the labeling of GMOs in the state, much like items are labeled for Peanut or Gluten Allergies, just as was attempted in California last year. Monsanto has threatened to sue the State of Vermont if it passes the law, which is backed by the majority of the population of the state. The legislation has stalled in committee for the time being due to the threat. This is just another example of the extensive power that these mega-corporations have, the ability to scare and entire state's government into submission for fear of financial ruin.
Sources:
House passes The Budget Control Act of 2011
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2011/h690
Senate passes The Budget Control Act of 2011
http://www.opencongress.org/vote/2011/s/122
House passes HR 325
http://www.opencongress.org/vote/2013/h/30
Senate Passes HR 325
https://www.opencongress.org/vote/2013/s/11
Senate Passes HR 933 on 3-20-2013
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00044
House passes HR 933 on 3-21-2013
http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=325006
Monsanto threatens State of Vermont for attempting to label GMOs
http://www.infowars.com/monsanto-threatens-vermont-legislature-over-gmo-labeling-bill-says-it-will-sue-state/
Some things everyone should know about HR 933 Section 753
http://www.ibtimes.com/monsanto-protection-act-5-terrifying-things-know-about-hr-933-provision-1156079
Senator Blunt worked with Monsanto to draft Section 753, dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/big-agriculture-tom-vilsack-monsanto-89268_Page2.html
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