MONROE - U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said the Food and Drug Administration's recent push to regulate cheese boards isn't going away any time soon and predicted a short appeals process on same-sex marriage in Wisconsin.
Pocan visited Monroe Wednesday before heading up to Albany, Monticello, Brodhead. While visiting The Monroe Times office, he answered questions about other issues, including the European Union's claim that cheese names need to be trademarked and the state of mental illness in Wisconsin.
In regards to the pending appeal of the state's ban on same-sex marriage that was struck down by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, Pocan said he predicts the appeal on Crabb's decision will not get very far.
"At this point, it's a not a matter of if it will happen, but when," he said.
Pocan said the ban on gay marriage was already found unconstitutional and he predicts the appeal process will likely go as it has in other states, making same-sex marriage equal under law to traditional marriage.
Pocan said he has been pressuring his constituents to continue watching the FDA and its attempt to crack down on wooden shelving and aging cheese on boards. The FDA wants all cheese stored on plastic, which is at odds with artisan cheesemakers who use the traditional method of aging cheese on wood. The FDA has said the boards cannot be adequately cleaned. Though the FDA recently lifted the ban they placed on using wooden cheeseboards, Pocan said the issue remains on the horizon.
"The FDA may have backed off, but I don't want people to forget about this issue," Pocan said. "The FDA is still moving forward with this."
U.S. trade deals with the EU have been stalled for a time, while the EU seeks to trademark cheese names so that they remain exclusive to the countries they originated from. Pocan said these trade deals will take a long time to iron out, especially since the EU is insisting that U.S. cheesemakers be barred from using popular cheese names like Parmesan, Havarti and Muenster.
"Lately I've been the cheese guy," Pocan said. "I recently had a chance to talk with the EU trade policymakers and ended up talking with their ag guy. He said something like, "We don't want to take cheddar from you,' but it's not just that; we can't call our cheeses by different names."
Pocan emphasized the importance of catching early warning signs to mental illness and delegating funds to help mitigate violent acts. Across the state there have been numerous cases of violent crime involving suspects with mental illness. On Wednesday, two doctors found a 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a classmate 19 times as mentally incompetent to stand trial. (See story on Page A3.) A Primrose man who had mental health problems was shot dead by law enforcement after he injured two officers in May. And Jaren Kuester was sentenced to life in Mendota Mental Health Institute for killing three Wiota farmers in April 2013.
"We catch it all too late," Pocan said. "It's like putting a person with cancer in prison because they have cancer; we need to look at how we can put funds into the system so it doesn't get to that point."
Pocan visited Monroe Wednesday before heading up to Albany, Monticello, Brodhead. While visiting The Monroe Times office, he answered questions about other issues, including the European Union's claim that cheese names need to be trademarked and the state of mental illness in Wisconsin.
In regards to the pending appeal of the state's ban on same-sex marriage that was struck down by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, Pocan said he predicts the appeal on Crabb's decision will not get very far.
"At this point, it's a not a matter of if it will happen, but when," he said.
Pocan said the ban on gay marriage was already found unconstitutional and he predicts the appeal process will likely go as it has in other states, making same-sex marriage equal under law to traditional marriage.
Pocan said he has been pressuring his constituents to continue watching the FDA and its attempt to crack down on wooden shelving and aging cheese on boards. The FDA wants all cheese stored on plastic, which is at odds with artisan cheesemakers who use the traditional method of aging cheese on wood. The FDA has said the boards cannot be adequately cleaned. Though the FDA recently lifted the ban they placed on using wooden cheeseboards, Pocan said the issue remains on the horizon.
"The FDA may have backed off, but I don't want people to forget about this issue," Pocan said. "The FDA is still moving forward with this."
U.S. trade deals with the EU have been stalled for a time, while the EU seeks to trademark cheese names so that they remain exclusive to the countries they originated from. Pocan said these trade deals will take a long time to iron out, especially since the EU is insisting that U.S. cheesemakers be barred from using popular cheese names like Parmesan, Havarti and Muenster.
"Lately I've been the cheese guy," Pocan said. "I recently had a chance to talk with the EU trade policymakers and ended up talking with their ag guy. He said something like, "We don't want to take cheddar from you,' but it's not just that; we can't call our cheeses by different names."
Pocan emphasized the importance of catching early warning signs to mental illness and delegating funds to help mitigate violent acts. Across the state there have been numerous cases of violent crime involving suspects with mental illness. On Wednesday, two doctors found a 12-year-old girl accused of stabbing a classmate 19 times as mentally incompetent to stand trial. (See story on Page A3.) A Primrose man who had mental health problems was shot dead by law enforcement after he injured two officers in May. And Jaren Kuester was sentenced to life in Mendota Mental Health Institute for killing three Wiota farmers in April 2013.
"We catch it all too late," Pocan said. "It's like putting a person with cancer in prison because they have cancer; we need to look at how we can put funds into the system so it doesn't get to that point."