Tell your community about the threat of NAIS in the Farm Bill!

The House Agriculture Committee proposed Farm Bill includes a section that would allow the USDA to use mandatory animal identification to implement County of Origin Labeling. If this is passed, USDA could force NAIS onto American animal owners, claiming that it's just part of telling consumers whether their meat comes from America or is imported! For more information, see our previous alert here and read Randy Givens' article here.

On July 10-12, the full House Agriculture Committee will meet to discuss the Farm Bill. It is critical that we generate a large number of calls and letters to the Chairman and the members of the Committee, asking them to strip Section 121 out and keep NAIS out of the Farm Bill!

Please start educating your friends and neighbors about this issue. A good way to spread the word is through letters to the editor. Sample letters are below. Keep your letter short and simple, and be sure to provide the information people need to take action.

ACTION:

1. Educate your community: Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. You can use the sample letters below as a starting point. And post flyers in feed stores, auction barns, and co-ops. You can download a flyer from our Citizen Action Tools page.
2. Call any member of the Committee who is from your state. Committee members are listed below. Call both the members of the House and Senate Committees, because the Senate will be starting work on its version of the Farm Bill shortly.
3. Between JULY 5 and JULY 10, call Chairman Peterson and as many members of the House Committee as you can. We're asking that people focus their calls on those specific days to maximize the impact.

KEY CONTACTS:

The Honorable Collin C. Peterson
Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture
1305 Longworth House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-2171
Fax: 202-225-8510
Email: agriculture@mail.house.gov

1. Any member of the Committee who is from your state. Members of both the House and the Senate Committees are listed below, after the sample letters.
2. Your Representative and Senators. You can find who they are here, or by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

As always, if you have any questions, you can email us at: libertyark@freedom.org

SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR 1

Unknown to many people, Congress is considering a program that threatens the existence of hundreds of thousands of farms, ranches, and horse owners. The threat is an intrusive and expensive government program called the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The public is being told the NAIS would protect them in the event of a terrorist attack or disease outbreak, but these claims have no basis in fact or science. The truth is this program was designed by and for large agricultural industry and technology corporations. If made mandatory, it would require owners of even one horse, chicken, cow, goat, or any other livestock animal, to register their property with a government database and tag each animal so its movements could be tracked. The government has not done a cost-benefit analysis, and NAIS could cost Americans billions of dollars! NAIS would drive many family farms out of business, and put even individual horse owners (or anyone who owns livestock animals as pets) under government surveillance. I urge everyone to contact their Congressman today. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to both your Congressman and Congressman Peterson (the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee). Tell them that you are opposed to NAIS, and you want section 121 of the Farm Bill to be stripped. To learn more, visit: www.libertyark.net.

SAMPLE LETTER 2

Attention healthy food loving Americans: although many people don't know it, their access to local, organic, and grass-fed animal products is currently hanging in the balance. The threat is the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), which would allow the government bureaucracy to require people to register their property and livestock to be identified and tracked. This intrusive program will drive many family farms and ranches out of business due to its high costs, in both money and time. The NAIS was designed by big corporate agriculture and technology firms, for their benefit at the expense of small farms and consumers. Now, Congress is considering implementing NAIS as part of the 2007 Farm Bill. I urge everyone to contact their Congressman today to stop NAIS and protect small farms, civil rights, and our access to healthy, local foods. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to both your Congressman and Congressman Peterson (the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee). Tell them that you are opposed to NAIS, and you want section 121 of the Farm Bill to be stripped. To learn more, visit: www.libertyark.net

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

Name (State), Phone number, Fax number

Members are listed in order of their states (alphabetically). Please contact any members who come from your state. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find here.

Terry Everett (AL), (p) 202-225-2901, (f) 202-225-8913
Michael Rogers (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485
Jo Bonner (AL), (p) 202-225-4931, (f) 202-225-0562

Joe Baca (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671
Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) 202-225-6131, (f) 202-225-0819
Jim Costa (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308
Kevin McCarthy (CA), (202) 225-2915, (f) 202-225-2908

John T. Salazar (CO), (p) 202-225-4761, (f) 202-226-9669
Marilyn Musgrove (CO), (p) 202-225-4676, (f) 202-225-5870

Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132

David Scott (GA), (p) 202-225-2939, (f) 202-225-4628
Jim Marshall (GA), (p) 202-225-6531, (f) 202-225-3013
John Barrow (GA), (p) 866-890-6236, (f) 202-225-3377

Leonard L. Boswell (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608
Steve King (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193

Timothy Johnson (IL), 202-225-2371, (f) 202-226-0791

Brad Ellsworth (IN), (p) 866-567-0227, (f) 202-225-3284
Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798

Nancy Boyda (KS), (p) 202-225-6601, (f) 202-225-7986
Jerry Moran (KS), (p) 202-225-2715, (f) 202-225-5124

Charles W. Boustany, Hr. (LA), (p) 202-225-2031, (f) 202-225-5724

Tim Walberg (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281

Collin Peterson (MN), (p) 202-225-2165, (f) 202-225-1593
Timothy J. Walz (MN), (p) 202-225-2472, (f) 202-225-3433

Sam Graves (MO), (p) 202-225-7041, (f) 202-225-8221

Earl Pomeroy (ND), (p) 202-225-2611, (f) 202-226-0893

Mike McIntyre (NC), (p) 202-225-2731, (f) 202-225-5773
Bob Etheridge (NC), (p) 202-225-4531, (f) 202-225-5662
Robin Hayes (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f) 202-225-4036
Virginia Foxx (NC), (p) 202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995

Jeff Fortnberry (NE), (p) 202-225-4806, (f) 202-225-5686
Adrian Smith (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207

Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f) 202-225-1168
John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (NY), 202-225-3161, (f) 202-226-6599

Zachary T. Space (OH), (p) 202-225-6265, (f) 330-364-4330
Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992

Frank D. Lucas (OK), (p) 202-225-5565, (f) 202-225-8698

Tim Holden (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996

Stephanie Herseth Sandline (SD), (p) 202-225-2801, (f) 202-225-5823

Lincoln Davis (TN), (p) 202-225-6831, (f) 202-226-5172

Henry Cuellar (TX), (p) 202-225-1640, (f) 202-225-1641
Mike Conaway (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783
Randy Neugebauer (TX), (p) 202-225-4005, (f) 202-225-9615
Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f) 202-225-5241

Bob Goodlatte (VA), (p) 202-225-5431, (f) 202-225-9681

Steve Kagen (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729

SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE

Name (State), Phone number, Fax number

Members are listed in order of their states (alphabetically). Please contact any members who come from your state. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find here.

Blanche Lincoln (AR), (p) 202-224-4843, (f) 202-228-1371

Ken Salazar (CO), (p) 202-224-5852, (f) 202-228-5036

Saxby Chambliss (GA), (p) 202-224-3521, (f) 202-224-0103

Mike Crapo (ID), (p) 202-224-6142, (f) 202-228-1375

Tom Harkin (IA), (p) 202-224-3254, (f) 202-224-9369

Charles Grassley (IA), (p) 202-224-3744, (f) 515-288-5097

Richard Lugar (IN), (p) 202-224-4814, (f) 202-228-0360

Pat Roberts (KS), (p) 202-224-4774, (f) 202-224-3514

Mitch McConnell (KY), (p) 202-224-2541, (f) 202-224-2499

Debbie Stabenow (MI), (p) 202-224-4822, senator@stabenow.senate.gov

Norm Coleman (MN), (p) 202-224-5641, (f) 202-224-1152

Amy Klobuchar (MN), (p) 202-224-3244

Thad Cochran (MS), (p) 202-224-5054

Max Baucus (MT), (p) 202-224-2651, (f) 202-224-0515

E. Banjamin Nelson (NE), (p) 202-224-6551, (f) 202-228-0012

Kent Conrad (ND), (p) 202-224-2043, (f) 202-224-7776

Sherrod Brown (OH), (p): 202-224-2315, (f) 202-228-6321

Robert Casey, Jr. (PA), (p): 202-224-6324, (f) 202-228-0604

Lindsey Graham (SC), (p) 202-224-5972

John Thune (SD), (p) 202-224-2321, (f) 202-228-5429

Patrick Leahy (VT), (p) 202-224-4242

TALKING POINTS TO STOP NAIS

• Please strip Section 121 from the draft Farm Bill. The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL should not be changed, and NAIS should not be added to the Farm Bill.
• Country of Origin Labeling can and should be implemented without mandatory animal identification
• Requiring all imported livestock to be identified with a country of origin marking is enough to implement COOL
• Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify all domestic cattle to prove their eligibility for a USA label is not necessary for COOL.
• Using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL would impose heavy burdens on American farmers and ranchers, in both time and money. NAIS will drive independent ranches and farms in America out of business.
• The purpose of COOL is to provide information so that consumers can choose whether to buy domestic or foreign products and, as a hoped-for result, providing American farmers and ranchers with economic rewards for raising food in this country.
• Mandatory animal identification would harm American farmers and ranchers, contrary to the goal of COOL.
• The right to know where our food comes from will be an empty right if it is purchased at the price of a mandatory animal identification system, such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). If mandatory animal ID is implemented, consumers would be fooled into believing that they were supporting American farmers and ranchers through the "Made in the USA" label. Yet more and more of the food labeled that way would be raised by international corporations that are willing and able to comply with NAIS.