Noem claims to favor COOL, but her voting record says otherwise
August 31, 2012
(SIOUX FALLS, SD)–On Saturday, September 1, congressional candidate Matt Varilek will take the stage at the State Fair in Huron. Congresswoman Kristi Noem will be visibly absent, having sparked criticism earlier this month when she declined her invitation to the State Fair debate, which all other statewide candidates will attend.
In anticipation of her missed appearance, the Varilek campaign is revisiting a series of falsehoods Congresswoman Noem offered at last week’s debate at Dakotafest in Mitchell.
Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, would play an important role in increasing demand for American-made products by requiring that agricultural products be labeled with the name of the country where they were produced. Varilek has consistently supported COOL legislation.
“I have long agreed with those who say that consumers should be able to tell where their steak came from, just as they can read the tag on a T-shirt to know where it came from,” said Varilek.
The anti-COOL amendment to the House bill, authored by a longtime COOL foe, is designed to make it easier to fully repeal COOL requirements in the coming years.
BACKGROUND
GIPSA and COOL amendments adopted into House farm bill. “Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, offered the bill that members accepted with 34 votes in favor and 12 votes against. The language requires USDA to turn in a report on COOL compliance progress 90 days after the date of enactment….
“Although Neugebauer said the inclusion of a reporting deadline in the farm bill is reasonable and aims to provide some certainty, National Farmers Union (NFU) President of Government Relations Chandler Goule said the amendment is designed to make full repeal of COOL requirements easier down the road. ‘It’s a ploy to get language into the farm bill so the producer-packer organizations can dismantle the country of origin labeling law behind closed doors,’ Goule said, noting that the language could serve long-term goals to dismantle the COOL law within conference.” [Agri-Pulse, 7/12/12]