US Goverment - Monsanto Collusion Reported
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US GOVT-MONSANTO COLLUSION
(excerpts from story Dec. 27, 1998 by Bill Lambrecht Post-Dispatch
Washington Bureau WASHINGTON)
A $7.5 billion company with 25,000 employees needs to be
well-connected, and Monsanto works to keep it that way. The company
plies political parties equally and recruits people with deep ties in
Washington.
By virtue of a friendly relationship between Monsanto chief
operating officer Robert B. Shapiro and Clinton, Monsanto is identified
in Washington as "a Democratic company." Monsanto and its employees
spread the political contributions. In the last two years, donations to
Democrats totaled about $100,000; Republicans received $140,000. The
company invests much more in bringing aboard influential people. Among
them:
- Monsanto board member Mickey Kantor is a former U.S. trade
representative and chairman of Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.
- Marcia Hale, Monsanto's international regulatory director, was a top
Clinton assistant.
- Linda Fisher, Monsanto's vice president for federal government
affairs, mapped pesticide policy in the Bush administration EPA.
- Michael R. Taylor, former deputy FDA commissioner, was hired recently
to look at long-range matters.
- Jack Watson, who was chief of staff in Jimmy Carter's presidency, is a
Monsanto staff lawyer in Washington.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates in the dual role as
regulator and ardent booster of biotechnology. Agriculture Secretary
Dan Glickman said that pressing foreign leaders on these matters "is at
the top of my agenda." Clinton, Gore, and Secretary of State Albright
have applied significant pressure on foreign leaders to accept GMO food
without labeling.
[Note: This article barely begins to list the revolving door of government
employees who have been rewarded with high-paying jobs related to approval
of Monsanto's products.]