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H.R. 1599: Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015

This was a vote to pass H.R. 1599 (114th) in the House.

This bill was enacted as S. 764.

The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the distribution and labeling related to bioengineered foods (often referred to as genetically modified foods or GMOs).

It would require food producers to notify FDA of any bioengineered foods intended to be sold interstate and would disallow the sale any bioengineered foods not deemed safe by FDA. Although the bill would prevent FDA from requiring the labeling of bioengineered foods only on the grounds that the foods are bioengineered, FDA could require that alterations of nutritional properties, allergens, or other characteristics of food be listed on food labeling. Regulations would also prohibit the labeling of food as not bioengineered if it had been planted with bioengineered seeds. Dairy products from animals fed bioengineered foods and foods developed using bioengineered processing aids or enzymes could still be labelled as non-bioengineered. The bill would also prevent states from issuing their own food labeling requirements for bioengineered foods.

Opposition of the bill has disapproved of the removal of state authority(article taken from response to previous incarnation of the bill), and argued the importance of labelling bioengineered foods. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS4), clarified his intentions in his press statement “the legislation takes an approach that is far better than a 50-state patchwork of GMO labelling laws” and that “GMOs are safe and have a number of important benefits for people and our planet.” This is the second time this bill has been introduced to congress. The first was during the 113th Congress where it died in committee.

Also see a related bill in the Senate.

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Congress
114th Congress
Date
Jul 23, 2015
Chamber
House
Number
#462
Question:
On Passage of the Bill in the House
Result:
Passed

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Key: R Aye D Aye R No D No
Seat position based on our ideology score.
This is a cartogram. Each hexagon represents one congressional district.
Totals     Republican     Democrat
  Aye 275
 
 
64%
230 45
  No 150
 
 
35%
12 138
Not Voting 8
 
 
2%
3 5
Required: Simple Majority source: house.gov

Vote Details

Notes: The Speaker’s Vote?
The Speaker of the House is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive.” In practice, this means the Speaker of the House rarely votes and only does so when it is politically useful. When the Speaker declines to vote, he or she is simply omitted from the roll call by the House Clerk. (See House Rules, Rule I(7).)
“Aye” or “Yea”?

“Aye” and “Yea” mean the same thing, and so do “No” and “Nay”. Congress uses different words in different sorts of votes.

The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.

All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.

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