DARK Act killed by Senate — at least for now
It’s a huge victory for common sense — and for our health.
Now let’s just hope it lasts.
After thousands of letters and phone calls from people like you, yesterday the U.S. Senate officially defeated one of the most dangerous pieces of food legislation ever written.
It’s been called the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act, and it would have taken away forever you’re right to know which foods are GMO.
But while we’ve won the battle, the war might not be over yet.
In fact, Monsanto and its GMO pals could be regrouping for one last push to kill GMO labeling once and for all.
And senators today must feel like they heard from every last one of them.
I was disgusted — and I know many of you were, too — when the House overwhelmingly passed the DARK Act this summer.
This thing is such a giant corporate gift to Monsanto and other GMO giants that you would have thought it was Christmas.
The DARK Act would have basically guaranteed that there is never federal GMO labeling — and it would stop states like Vermont from enacting their own GMO labeling laws.
That’s right — this bill would have kept you from ever knowing whether you were eating (or feeding your family) Frankenfoods that have been linked to everything from digestive disorders to cancer.
It was an absolute outrage. But, fortunately, we didn’t just get angry — we got busy.
I’ve heard from so many of you from throughout the country who flooded your senators with calls, letters and emails demanding that they kill the DARK Act.
And it looks like we made a lot of powerful people awfully nervous. The DARK Act failed to pass a procedural vote yesterday that would have allowed the entire Senate to vote for it.
Senators from both parties (when was the last time you heard that?) stood up to stop the DARK Act from getting a full floor vote. In fact, it ended up 12 votes short, which is a lot in Congress these days.
That means the DARK Act is dead for now — and it’s up to all of us to make sure it stays dead.
You see, Vermont’s GMO labeling law kicks in this July. And lots of other states could be next.
So you can expect Monsanto and their GMO-friendly political pals to make at least one more run at the DARK Act by then. They could try to twist arms to pick up another 12 votes — or even creatively package it with another bill.
So, yes, let’s celebrate our victory this week — but we shouldn’t let our guard down yet. I’ll be watching this very carefully and will let you know if the DARK Act resurfaces.
We’ve beaten it once — and we’ll beat it again.
