URGENT: Making sure you are in the loop on this

From:GHIRSHBERG@Stonyfield.com To: John.Podesta@gmail.com Date: 2016-02-23 16:27 Subject: URGENT: Making sure you are in the loop on this

Hi John, the Roberts bill was introduced on Friday and it is even worse than what I had expected. Since he appears to have the votes in Committee, this is going to be a MAJOR floor fight that will garner a lot of media and citizen attention in the next three weeks which is obviously a critical time for HRC. And as I predicted, Bernie has already come out strong against the bill: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-agriculture ...which is going to play very well with his target (millennials). I can't stress too strongly how important it is for HRC to come out strongly against the Roberts bill and for citizens having the right to know and choose whether to buy foods with GMO ingredients. And the sooner she can do this the better, so (a) she does not appear to be lagging too much behind Bernie and (b) because her assertion of leadership in standing up for consumers now would significantly boost citizens' confidence about her readiness to stand up for average folks and address the tough issues. As for the message, I am more than happy to help frame talking points if you want to send someone my way (a sample of key points is below). But one important thing for you and her to know is that Tom Vilsack's efforts to find a compromise solution have really been pushed aside for now, and so while in Iowa she paid some respect to his idea of a QR code/scanning approach, because of the nature of what Roberts is proposing, that idea is really irrelevant now. This is truly a yes or no issue..as to whether senators will support blocking or supporting citizens rights to know. As I said to her last July, regardless of how she or any of us feel about genetically engineered foods, that is a separate issue from whether or not people have the rights to know and choose whether to buy them for their families. She MUST come out against this asap. Here are some talking points to consider. Let me know how I can be helpful. FYI I will be at the NYC finance gathering next week for about 2 hours (3-5pm). I hope to see you then. Gary Hirshberg Chairman, Stonyfield Farm Chairman, Just Label It