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Inappropriate behavior of the House Committee on Agriculture

I am concerned about the inappropriateness of the pressure put on Secretary Vilsack by the House Committee on Agriculture to exclusively represent Biotechnology interests by ordering full GE alfalfa deregulation to the detriment of All Others

I share the concerns voiced in this letter by a proponent of genetic engineering regulation reform (GMOreform.org) and would like for my local representatives to see it as well. Thank you.



Esteemed members of Congress,



I'm concerned about the inappropriateness of the pressure put on Secretary Vilsack by the House Agricultural Committee to deregulate genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa fully. The Secretary made a gesture to have the USDA action consider interests of all people including those outside of the biotechnology industry and was rebuked for it. I'm even more concerned that the process that involves the Judiciary System, an intensive Environmental Impact Statement and the public comment periods on the EIS (that we, who are not in the favored industry, must fight to get), was all a sham because the decision was already made and handed to the Secretary to execute. Finally, I am concerned that this is part of an offensive melding of the biotech industry with portions of US government marked by questionable financial relationships, which is about to result in new levels of biotech favoritism if the Committee grants the industry?s dream of forcing GE ingredients into Organics. Please read the transcript of the the Forum Before the Committee which took place seven days prior to the surprise announcement of full deregulation of GE alfalfa. I believe many members of Congress including of the House of Representatives will be shocked to read the wholly inappropriate conduct of the Committee:



http://agriculture.house.gov/pdf/public-forum/ForumCommitteePrint110120.pdf



It looks like the committee told Sec. Vilsack that by even talking to non-GE farmers to see what they would be happy with, such as a gesture of GE-free zones to reduce contamination, he is causing the Committee and the GE Agriculture industry a problem. They tell him to stop his talks. He explains that discussions with all interested parties have value in assessment of GE crops. He is told that he's just a regulator, not a statutory authority, and any talk of anything but uncompromising deregulation could weaken their position as they continue to tell the WTO and the world that GE is good, safe, fine, the end. All these speakers state their total allegiance to biotech. Many Americans for, against, and indifferent to genetic engineering will find the content of this transcript intolerable.



The rest of this letter referencing specific transgressions in this forum is available with source documentation on GMOreform.org. Meanwhile, here are a few contextual articles.



http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/01/usda-fully-deregulates-ge-roundup-ready-alfalfa/

http://staging.influenceexplorer.com/organization/syngenta-corp/9de60a553c2e4f1ca3f5e0e09b095c5e

http://www.businessinsider.com/syngenta-lobbying-2011-3#

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-08-30/House-freshmen-push-bills-that-benefit-big-donors/50196680/1

http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110720/full/475274a