1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Please support the Pingree-Massie Protect Our Health Amendment to the Farm Bill. As Pingree and Masssie explain, the current farm bill "includes provisions that would shield chemical manufacturers like Bayer from lawsuits and would preempt state and local warning label laws or usage regulations for potentially harmful products." Their amendment protects the health of Americans and stops the chemical companies from getting legal immunity for selling potentially toxic products. Here is how Pingree and Massie explain their amendment: "Big Chemical has spent years trying to buy exactly this kind of protection from Congress: immunity from lawsuits, weaker safeguards, and a federal override of state and local pesticide protections. This Farm Bill would hand it to them on a silver platter,” Pingree said. “If a company’s product makes people sick, that company should be held accountable. If states and local communities want to put stronger protections in place, they should have every right to do so. I’m grateful to Congressman Massie for joining me in this fight. This is beyond politics and party lines. Congress should be protecting families, farmers, and children, not doing favors for Bayer and other chemical giants.” “Americans need to know: our government is under siege by lobbyists for German company Bayer,” said Massie. “Bayer has spent over $9 million lobbying for exemption from liability for harm its chemicals, like glyphosate, might cause. To Make America Healthy Again, Congress should remove the language containing the pesticide liability shield from the Farm Bill.” I want my elected representatives to work for me and to serve the people -- not to be in the pockets of big chemical companies, not to enable polluters to poison us with impunity. It is abominable to think that a government that should be of, by, and for the people would even permit multinationals to profit off toxic chemicals while benefitting from legal impunity. Please: Do not permit that!