"The short-term spending plan moving through the Senate would eliminate legislative language that allows farmers to continue growing genetically modified crops even if a court has blocked their use."

"The Farmer Assurance Provision — dubbed the Monsanto Protection Act by its critics — was inserted into an earlier government funding bill that expires Monday and would have remained in place under the stop-gap funding bill approved by the House last week.

The 16-page version of the funding bill drafted by Senate Democrats makes two highly publicized changes to the House version: It strips the House language that would defund the Affordable Care Act and shortens the length of the spending measure, to Nov. 15 from Dec. 15.

But the Senate bill also explicitly cuts the crops provision, a move that food safety advocates hailed as an important victory."

Holly Yeager reports for the Washington Post September 26, 2013. [2]