Following Senate passage of a bill to set a national standard for the labeling of foods containing GMO ingredients, American Soybean Association (ASA) President Richard Wilkins, a soybean farmer from Greenwood, Del., congratulated the Senate and called on the House to take up and quickly pass the measure. In a statement, Wilkins thanked Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow for their work on the bill and urged the House to act as soon as possible to provide certainty in the marketplace for the nation’s farmers and consumers:

“Tonight’s vote in the Senate has been a long time in the making, and we greatly appreciate the work by Chairman Roberts and Ranking Member Stabenow. We believe that the bill they have crafted provides consumers the information they need without stigmatizing a safe and sustainable food technology, and we encourage the House to move quickly to approve this carefully crafted compromise. There is too much at stake in the marketplace to let the consequences of the Vermont law linger any longer.

“We’re grateful not only for the work of Senate Agriculture Committee leadership, but for the leadership on this issue on the House side as well. The House did its job on its voluntary bill almost a year ago and, while the Senate bill isn’t perfect, it’s the best legislation that can become law. A perfect bill that can’t pass won’t accomplish anything for the nation’s farmers or the nation’s consumers. We appreciate the efforts of Chairman Conaway, Ranking Member Peterson and Congressmen Pompeo and Butterfield, and we hope to count on their support for the bill as it moves to the House.”