Ron Paul Quotes.com 2003 Ron Paul Chapter 65 Ron Paul Quotes.com: Genetically Modified Agricultural Products 10 June 2003 Home Page   Contents Congressional Record (Page H5115)   Cached Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional website.

Genetically Modified Agricultural Products 10 June 2003 2003 Ron Paul 65:1 Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this measure not because I wish to either support or oppose genetically-modified products. Clearly the production and consumption of these products is a matter for producers and consumers to decide for themselves. 2003 Ron Paul 65:2 I oppose this bill because at its core it is government intervention — both in our own markets and in the affairs of foreign independent nations. Whether European governments decide to purchase American products should not be a matter for the U.S. Congress to decide. It is a matter for European governments and the citizens of European Union member countries. While it may be true that the European Union acts irrationally in blocking the import of genetically-modified products, the matter is one for European citizens to decide. 2003 Ron Paul 65:3 Also, this legislation praises U.S. efforts to use the World Trade Organization to force open European markets to genetically-modified products. The WTO is an unelected world bureaucracy seeking to undermine the sovereignty of nations and peoples. It has nothing to do with free trade and everything to do with government- and bureaucrat-managed trade. Just as it is unacceptable when the WTO demands — at the behest of foreign governments — that the United States government raise taxes and otherwise alter the practices of American private enterprise, it is likewise unacceptable when the WTO makes such demands to others on behalf of the United States. This is not free trade. 2003 Ron Paul 65:4 Genetically-modified agriculture products may well be the wave of the future. They may provide food for the world’s populations and contribute to the eradication of disease. That is something we certainly hope for and for which we will all applaud should it prove to be the case. But, again, this legislation is not about that. That is why I must oppose this bill.

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