13 February 2003
WHO'S FUNDING SENATOR GRASSLEY ?
War or no war senior Republican senator CHUCK GRASSLEY, chair of the Senate committee that oversees U.S. trade policy, is determined that the United States must push ahead with a World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union's GMO policy. "I don't understand why any American public official would mind offending the French and the Germans right now," he says.
Clearly, for Senator Grassley there are some things even more important than oil.
Claire Robinson
***
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - THE BEST DEMOCRACY MONEY CAN BUY!
all info from http://www.opensecrets.org/
CHUCK GRASSLEY (R - IA)
Detailed Contributor Breakdown
1997-2002 election cycle
among the top contributors were
Eli Lilly & Co $13,000
GlaxoSmithKline $13,000
Totals from Agribusiness $15,000
Totals from Health (includes pharmaceutical companies) $127,997
CHUCK GRASSLEY (R - IA)
Detailed Contributor Breakdown2000 ELECTION CYCLE
Health (Pharmas) total $313,659
includes
Glaxo Wellcome Inc $10,000
Bayer Corp $4,500
Bristol-Myers Squibb $4,000
American Home Products $3,000
Crop Production/Processing total $68,400
includes
Cargill Inc $4,000
American Sugarbeet Growers Assn $4,000
Agricultural Services/Products total $131,968
includes
Eli Lilly & Co $5,000
Pharmacia Corp (division of Monsanto) $5,000
Merck & Co $4,000
Novartis Corp $4,000
Dow Chemical $3,000
Pfizer Inc $3,000
Food Processing & Sales total $56,270
includes
ConAgra Inc $10,000
Tobacco total $12,166
includes
Philip Morris $4,000
RJ Reynolds Tobacco $3,000
* The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's Political Action Committee, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
***
Sen. Grassley-US will file biotech complaint vs EU
Source - Reuters Securities News (Eng)
Thursday, February 13, 2003 03:39
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The United States intends to push ahead with a World Trade Organization complaint against the European Union's biotech policy, but only after it irons out "political problems" related to allied support for a war in Iraq, a senior Republican senator said on Wednesday.
The Bush administration recently appeared ready to lodge the WTO protest in hopes of getting the EU to lift its moratorium on approving genetically-modified goods.
But last week, during a visit to Washington, EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said he had been told by U.S. officials that the decision had been put on hold.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, who chairs a Senate committee that oversees U.S. trade policy, told reporters that the looming Iraq war was the reason for the Bush administration delaying an announcement of a trade complaint.
"I expect that until the political problems over the Iraq war with Germany and France are over and Europe generally, there won't be a case filed. But there will be a case filed."
Germany and France have been among the loudest European critics of President George W. Bush's apparent plans to use military force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein soon.
Grassley, who ardently supports challenging the EU's biotech policy at the WTO, noted that he had spoken to top White House staff and two Bush Cabinet heads about the trade case.
CORN SHIPMENTS HAMPERED
But he stopped short of saying that any of those officials had assured him the WTO complaint eventually would be filed.
Grassley represents a leading corn-producing state and U.S. corn shipments to the EU have been hampered by its refusal to approve new biotech products since 1998. An estimated $300 million in agricultural sales to the EU are lost each year because of the EU policy. Last month, Grassley urged the Bush administration "to get off its duff and make a decision" to take legal steps against the EU moratorium.
Besides political problems related to Iraq, some U.S. officials also have expressed concerns that filing a WTO complaint would further harden European consumer attitudes against biotech goods.
Nonetheless, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has been outspoken in his desire to take the EU to the WTO.
But one source told Reuters last week that the State Department at the last minute interceded to hold up the U.S. action out of concern about European support for an Iraq war.
Grassley questioned the Bush administration's second thoughts, telling reporters, "I don't understand why any American public official would mind offending the French and the Germans right now."
Grassley said he wasn't expecting Germany to commit any troops or financial resources to a possible war against Iraq. "I don't want one drop of German blood, one German euro, all I want is German moral support," he said.