Montana Senator Jon Tester visited western Montana today. His trip included attending a health care summit in Charlo being put on by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Before going there, though, he stopped by Montana Public Radio to talk about a number of issues, including so-called “country of origin labeling,” the law that requires meat and seafood to carry labels so consumers can know which country it came from. He spoke with News Director Eric Whitney.
Read Sen. Tester's letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL).
Opponents of COOL, including The American Meat Institute, have sued to block the rule.
On ISIS, Tester said, "we need to have a debate on this issue in congress. There's a lot of un-answered questions out there."
When it comes to health care through the VA and the Indian Health Service, Tester says there are serious problems with both agencies, but, "the VA's in better shape than the Indian Health Service." He says the CSKT system could serve as a model for improvements.