Elizabeth Kucinich: Agrochemical Industry Hijacked MAHA Report — A Major Assault on Families, Farmers, and Pro-Life Agriculture

Washington, D.C. — Elizabeth Kucinich today issued the following statement in response to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s strategy report on childhood chronic disease:

“The pesticide section of the report, which directs EPA to partner with industry on PR campaigns to convince Americans the system is ‘robust,’ reads like it was written by Bayer and Monsanto,” said Elizabeth Kucinich.

“The American people gave the mandate, and the President promised to work with Secretary Kennedy, not undermine his mission by loading the administration with those who would fight him. The MAHA movement must keep this administration accountable to its promises to protect our children, support our farmers, and make America truly healthy again,” said Elizabeth Kucinich.

The report states: “EPA, partnering with food and agricultural stakeholders, will work to ensure that the public has awareness and confidence in EPA’s pesticide robust review procedures and how that relates to the limiting of risk for users and the general public and informs continual improvement.”

“We cannot call a system robust when it permits poisons already banned abroad. True Pro-Life Agriculture protects children before profits,” said Kucinich.

“PR campaigns and more studies are not regulation. Parents do not need propaganda, they need protection,” she added.

Kucinich said the administration’s weakness is compounded by

• Its refusal to speak out against chemical liability shields that would grant pesticide makers immunity from accountability, and

• By advancing the EATS Act, which strips states and local communities of their ability to protect themselves from dangerous food and farming practices.

• Over 100 billion dollars in the so-called Build Back Better agenda directed to the largest chemical intensive crops, while the USDA’s NRCS, National Organic Program, and Organic Transition teams — the very programs qualified and already working with farmers to advance the MAHA agenda — were hollowed out.

Kucinich called for immediate reforms to restore trust and protect life:

• Ban the most dangerous pesticides already prohibited abroad, including atrazine and paraquat.

• Require EPA to evaluate whole pesticide formulations, not just active ingredients.

• End the practice of waiving child safety factors in pesticide reviews.

• Redirect government subsidies to help farmers transition to regenerative organic systems, with strong research and education support.

• Restore funding and authority to USDA’s NRCS, National Organic Program, and Organic Transition teams.

• Reject chemical liability shields that grant pesticide makers immunity from accountability.

• Abandon the EATS Act, which would strip state and local protections.

“If the administration wants the trust of the people who voted it to power, it must stop capitulating to corporate lobbyists and start listening to doctors, scientists, and farmers who know the truth: chemicals are killing us,” she concluded.

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