Ever since the House passed H.R. 1599, the DARK—Deny Americans the Right to Know—Act on July 23, we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We won’t have to wait much longer.

Word is out that the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which helped Monsanto write the DARK Act, has scheduled a lobbying day for October 7.

And the DARK Act is set to be heard by the Senate Agriculture Committee, likely the week beginning October 5.

As the July 1, 2016 deadline to comply with Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law draws dangerously close, Monsanto grows increasingly desperate. We expect a fierce battle in the Senate.

We have nearly $70,000 to go to meet our current fundraising goal by midnight September 30. We'll use the money to fight H.R. 1599 in the Senate. Can you make a donation today? Every donation, large or small, helps.

TAKE ACTION: You can donate online, by phone or by mail—details here.

Something is going to happen. If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.

So we were told recently by a Senate staffer, during one of the many meetings we’ve held with Senators to urge them to reject H.R. 1599, or what we refer to as the DARK—Deny Americans the Right to Know—Act.

Could that comment mean Monsanto is cooking up another “sneak attack,” similar to the one it conducted in 2013, that led to passage of the Monsanto Protection Act? Only this time, the sneak attack would be aimed at stomping out the GMO labeling movement?

It wouldn’t surprise us. A quick look at the lay of the land reveals that Monsanto and Big Food have several opportunities to rush the DARK Act into law, without a hearing or a full vote in the Senate.

How likely is that to happen? The jury is still out. But this much we know: Monsanto and Big Food are nothing if not opportunists.
 

On July 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill which is intended to permanently prevent passage of any state or federal law mandating the labeling of GMOs in your food. 

H.R. 1599 is now before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. A Senate version of the bill is expected to be introduced soon. 

H.R. 1599, funded by Monsanto and Big Food, is disingenuously called the “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.” But we call it the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, because that’s what it would do.
There are two excellent reasons President Obama should veto this bill, or any bill like it that preempts mandatory labeling at the state or federal level.

First, President Obama promised labels on GMO foods, in a campaign speech he gave in 2007, in Iowa.  Second, on May 20, 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Order to heads of executive departments and agencies stating that “preemption of State law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the States and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption.” 

TAKE Action: Ask President Obama to veto the DARK Act!