Dusty Johnson is pushing back against allegations that a provision in the House’s Farm Bill protects a major biotech company from lawsuits.
An article from the Washington Post alleges a provision in the Farm Bill crafted by the U.S. House would force many to drop lawsuits against the company Bayer.
The controversy revolves around the chemical glyphosate and concerns over it potentially being carcinogenic. Currently, the EPA does not recognize the chemical as such. But a 2015 World Health Organization study said evidence shows it is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Due to this, many are suing Bayer over the chemical’s use in the popular weed killer, Roundup.
Johnson is a member of the subcommittee that wrote the Farm Bill. He said the legislation would not affect legal cases.
“I mean our legislation doesn’t do anything in the courts. I mean if somebody’s got a legitimate tort claim in the courts today, there isn’t anything that we would do to adjust their claim from a backward-looking perspective. There is nothing in the plain reading of the amendment that addresses judicial claims,” Johnson said.
Some find issue with the specific wording in the provision regarding pesticide and herbicide labeling. It prohibits states or courts from holding any entity liable for “failing to comply with requirements with respect to, labeling or packaging” under the federal government’s standards.
The Washington Post alleges this would force some lawsuits to be dropped and save Bayer from “financial crisis.” The company has already paid over $10 billion in settlement money.
Johnson said the provision makes states follow the EPA’s lead in regard to pesticide labeling.
“Now we’ve got some states who have gotten more aggressive in trying to put their own labels that are not consistent with an evidence-based scientific approach, particularly California. Clearly, we can’t have effective interstate commerce if we have every single state doing their own label on these herbicides and pesticides,” Johnson said.
Bayer has lobbied heavily in Washington D.C. in favor of policies for the company. In its Political Transparency Report, the company announced in 2022 it spent over $19 million lobbying in the U.S. alone.
Since 2023, Bayer's Political Action Committee has donated $4,000 to Johnson, according to FEC data. It also donated $3,500 over that timeframe to California Democrat Jim Costa, who is also called out by the Washington Post Article. Bayer gave smaller amounts to several other candidates who sit on the House subcommittee that crafts the Farm Bill.
Johnson and Costa tried to pass the provision as the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act last June, but ultimately the act never passed out of the House. The Washington Post reports that Republicans have tried to pass the act in an EPA funding bill and Pentagon spending bill, but neither passed.
The publication also said that Rep. Glenn Thompson, the chairman of the House Agriculture subcommittee, called the bill a product of “extensive feedback from stakeholders and all members of the House.”
Johnson had similar sentiments when denying allegations about the provision.
"Listen: anytime you're writing legislation, you need to be talking to a broad cross section of stakeholders," Johnson said. "Shame on any member of Congress who thinks they have all of the answers and just goes in and tries to make a law for the whole country without talking to the people who are affected. So obviously, anytime we're introducing any amendment, we're talking all kinds of stakeholders."
The House’s version of the Farm Bill faces an uncertain future in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
