A bill to provide clarification regarding the common or usual name for bison and compliance with section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and for other purposes.

Senate Bill

S. 258

119th Congress

A bill to provide clarification regarding the common or usual name for bison and compliance with section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and for other purposes.

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 27, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Roger Wicker

R - MS

Cosponsors

9

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Science, Technology, Communications

Summary

This bill provides clarification that bison can be marketed using the common name buffalo for food labeling purposes, ensuring compliance with FDA food labeling requirements while preserving traditional naming conventions for American bison products.

Latest Action

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 88.

Introduced1/27/2025

StatusRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

ChamberSenate

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Vote Prediction

A bill to provide clarification regarding the common or usual name for bison and compliance with section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and for other purposes.

This bill provides clarification that bison can be marketed using the common name buffalo for food labeling purposes, ensuring compliance with FDA food labeling requirements while preserving traditional naming conventions for American bison products.

Community Breakdown

Pass

0%

Fail

0%

0 predictions

This bill provides clarification that bison can be marketed using the common name buffalo for food labeling purposes, ensuring compliance with FDA food labeling requirements while preserving traditional naming conventions for American bison products.

Bill Number: 258
Introduced: 1/27/2025
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Policy Area: Science, Technology, Communications

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: A bill to provide clarification regarding the common or usual name for bison and compliance with section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and for other purposes.
Bill Number: 258
Sponsor: No sponsor
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Introduced: 1/27/2025
Summary: This bill provides clarification that bison can be marketed using the common name buffalo for food labeling purposes, ensuring compliance with FDA food labeling requirements while preserving traditional naming conventions for American bison products.

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill provides clarification that bison can be marketed using the common name buffalo for food labeling purposes, ensuring compliance with FDA food labeling requirements while preserving traditional naming conventions for American bison products.

Last updated: 1/5/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Tornado Observations Research and Notification Assessment for Development of Operations Act or the TORNADO ActThis bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to evaluate and improve its communications about hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, and other hazardous weather events.Specifically, NOAA must establish a Risk Communication Office to evaluate the effectiveness of NOAA's communications and to identify ways to provide simpler and clearer information to the public about hazardous weather events. NOAA must also (1) establish a research program to modernize its communication systems, and (2) establish a pilot program to implement the research with respect to communications about tornadoes.Additionally, the bill requires NOAA to develop a strategic plan for implementing the Warn-on-Forecast System, which aims to provide more advanced warnings of thunderstorm-related events (e.g., tornadoes). The bill also requires NOAA to evaluate its tornado rating system and to conduct post-storm assessments of significant events.The bill also provides statutory authority for NOAA's Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (known as VORTEX-USA), a collaborative project between meteorologists and social scientists to study the conditions that contribute to dangerous tornadoes in the Southeast and the best ways to communicate these events to the public.Finally, the Government Accountability Office must report on the National Weather Service's communication technology, particularly with respect to timely notices of hazardous weather events.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Clarifies bison can be labeled as buffalo
Addresses FDA food labeling compliance
Preserves traditional bison product naming
Supports bison ranchers and producers
Resolves common name regulatory ambiguity

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

Bison ranchers and meat producers would have clarity on product labeling. Consumers would continue seeing familiar buffalo naming. The bison industry would avoid potential labeling compliance issues.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Science, Technology, Communications

Related Subjects

Atmospheric science and weather

Congressional oversight

Earth sciences

Emergency communications systems

Emergency planning and evacuation

Floods and storm protection

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations

Natural disasters

Performance measurement

+1 more

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

258, 119th Congress (2025). "A bill to provide clarification regarding the common or usual name for bison and compliance with section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and for other purposes.". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-s-258