[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9140]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
               COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING AMENDMENTS ACT

  (Mr. YOUNG of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YOUNG of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of 
H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015.
  I want to thank Chairman Conaway for his leadership on this issue.
  On May 18, the World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S. COOL 
requirements. This ruling gives Canada and Mexico the green light to 
retaliate against United States products, particularly beef, pork, and 
chicken products. We are not looking here at a slap in the face, ladies 
and gentlemen. Unless COOL is repealed, U.S. goods could be hit with 
retaliatory tariffs that total $3.6 billion.
  My home State of Iowa would be hit really hard. We have over 20 
million hogs and almost 4 million cattle. Last year, Iowa exported 
almost $2 billion of pork, with Canada and Mexico as our top export 
markets. We need to repeal the country of origin labeling requirements 
in pork, beef, and chicken, which could hurt American workers.
  While COOL is well-intentioned, we have voluntary programs already in 
place that give consumers information and the right to know where these 
products came from. We are out of options. Other legislative and 
regulatory fixes have been ineffective.
  As the U.S. and State economies recover, the choice is clear. We 
cannot wait and see what trade retaliation from our closest trading 
partners would look like. It is time to repeal COOL now.

                          ____________________