{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://hageman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-hageman-reintroduces-country-origin-labeling-enforcement-act", "Congresswoman Hageman Reintroduces the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act", "2025-10-24", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "House", "WY", "Harriet M. Hageman", "H001096", "hageman.house.gov", "hageman", "https://hageman.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) reintroduced the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act, which reinstates mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for beef.\n\nRepresentatives Hageman and Khanna were joined by Representatives Warren Davidson (R-OH), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (R-AZ).\n\n\u201cAmerican consumers deserve accurate information on the products they buy, and U.S. ranchers deserve honest and fair competition in the marketplace. The U.S. abandoned MCOOL for beef in 2016 following a World Trade Organization ruling. This change lifted the profit margins of monopolistic big packers at the expense of the American rancher. The domestic market is finally providing the means for our producers to keep family ranches alive, and we must protect these operations by providing full transparency of the origin of beef in the marketplace. MCOOL is more important than ever to grow the size of the national herd and stop the blending of cheap foreign beef in high-quality U.S. products,\u201d stated Rep. Hageman.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration is quadrupling Argentinian beef imports while our farmers continue to struggle. We need trade policy that puts America first. I\u2019m proud to lead legislation with Rep. Hageman that blocks multi-national meat packing companies that are importing cattle and falsely labeling it as American,\u201d said Rep. Ro Khanna.\n\n\"Rocky Mountain Farmers Union thanks Representative Hageman for standing up for the best interests of both America\u2019s cattle producers and its consumers through the introduction of the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act of 2025,\" said Chad Franke, President of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. \"American ranchers produce the highest-quality beef \u2014 and consumers want to purchase that premium product and support family ranches and rural communities. To make informed choices, American consumers deserve to know where their food comes from. The implementation of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) is essential to ensure transparency in the marketplace and to strengthen trust between producers and consumers. MCOOL benefits both \u2014 giving ranchers the recognition they deserve and consumers the confidence they expect,\" Franke continued.\n\n\u201cFamily farmers and ranchers work hard to put safe, high-quality American meat on our tables. Consumers deserve to know where their food comes from\u2014and they want that choice. Restoring mandatory country-of-origin labeling is common sense. It gives families the information they need and ensures a fairer, more competitive marketplace for farmers and ranchers. We thank Representatives Hageman and Khanna for standing up for transparency and for American farmers, ranchers, and consumers,\u201d said Rob Larew, President, National Farmers Union.\n\n\u201cWe are grateful for Representative Hageman\u2019s leadership in creating a competitive marketplace for both ranchers and consumers with her bill requiring accurate origin information on beef. Consumers deserve the right to choose to buy imported beef or beef from America\u2019s ranchers, and ranchers deserve the right to compete in their own domestic market. This bill will accomplish both,\u201d said Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA.\n\nBackground:\n\nCountry of origin labeling food laws require retailers to inform customers about the source of their food. Agricultural commodities were exempted from MCOOL laws, but beginning in 2002, Congress passed a series of laws implementing MCOOL requirements for select commodities, including beef. However, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that U.S. MCOOL laws were in violation of WTO rules, and Congress removed it for beef in 2016.\n\nThe Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act reinstates MCOOL requirements for beef and raises fines for those falsely labeling their beef as made in the U.S.A., including the multinational packers. The bill also dictates that no ruling from an international body, such as the WTO, impacts our country\u2019s ability to implement country of origin requirements.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://hageman.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-hageman-reintroduces-country-origin-labeling-enforcement-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8676638826727867, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}