{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6758", "Pingree, Massie Team Up to Strip Big Chemical Immunity from Farm Bill", "2026-04-22", "2026", "2026-04", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Chellie Pingree", "P000597", "pingree.house.gov", "pingree", "https://pingree.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are teaming up to introduce an amendment to the Farm Bill that fights back against immunity for chemical companies and protects the health of Americans. Republicans\u2019 Farm Bill, which is expected to be taken up by the House next week, includes provisions that would shield chemical manufacturers like Bayer from lawsuits and would preempt state and local warning label laws or usage regulations for potentially harmful products. The Pingree-Massie Protect Our Health Amendment would remove this harmful language from the Farm Bill. Cosponsors of the amendment include Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), and Eugene Vindman (D-Va.).\n\n\u201cBig Chemical has spent years trying to buy exactly this kind of protection from Congress: immunity from lawsuits, weaker safeguards, and a federal override of state and local pesticide protections. This Farm Bill would hand it to them on a silver platter,\u201d Pingree said. \u201cIf a company\u2019s product makes people sick, that company should be held accountable. If states and local communities want to put stronger protections in place, they should have every right to do so. I\u2019m grateful to Congressman Massie for joining me in this fight. This is beyond politics and party lines. Congress should be protecting families, farmers, and children, not doing favors for Bayer and other chemical giants.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmericans need to know: our government is under siege by lobbyists for German company Bayer,\u201d said Massie. \u201cBayer has spent over $9 million lobbying for exemption from liability for harm its chemicals, like glyphosate, might cause. To Make America Healthy Again, Congress should remove the language containing the pesticide liability shield from the Farm Bill.\u201d\n\nSeven states\u2014Maine, Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, Utah, Nevada, and Vermont\u2014do not preempt local governments from regulating pesticide use within their jurisdictions. In Maine alone, there are more than 30 state and local regulations related to pesticide use and warning requirements that would be undermined or preempted under this Republican pesticide provision in the Farm Bill.\n\n###", 1, "2026-04-23T05:48:52Z", "2026-04-23T05:50:10Z"]], "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://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=6758"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.07086100615561, "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"}