Update on Senate Farm Bill

Last week's Senate Agriculture Committee meeting on the Farm Bill was postponed. No definite date has been set for the meeting, although the current speculation is that it will be during the week of October 22nd.

The Senate is recessed this week, so the staff has a little more time. That means it's a good time to call them about NAIS!

TAKE ACTION: Call the Senators listed below. Ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural issues, not just the front desk!

MESSAGE: I do not want the NAIS included in the Farm Bill or any other bill. I want funding for the NAIS to be stopped. Additional talking points are at the end of this alert. Pick the issues that matter most to you, and explain why NAIS will hurt you and your community.

KEY CONTACTS:

1. Your Senators can be found here, or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 877-851-6437
2. Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of Agriculture Committee, (D-IA) 202-224-3254
3. Senator Saxby Chambliss, Ranking Member (R-GA) 202-224-3521

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:

Calls to other members of the Agriculture Committee are most effective when they come from people within the state the Senator represents. But, as Committee members, they are supposed to take input from anyone. If you have extra time after calling your Senators, Senator Harkin, and Senator Chambliss, call the other members, listed below. And pass this on to your friends and relatives in those states!

Other Members of the Committee:
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) 202-224-4242
Kent Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Max Baucus (D-MT) 202-224-2651
Blanch Lincoln (D-AR) 202-224-4843
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) 202-224-4822
Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551
Ken Salazar (D-CO) 202-224-5852
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 202-224-2315
Robert Casey (D-PA) 202-224-6324
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) 202-224-3244
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 202-224-4814
Thad Cochran (R-MS) 202-224-5054
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541
Pat Roberts (R-KS) 202-224-4774
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 202-224-5641
Mike Crapo (R-ID) 202-224-6142
John Thune (R-SD) 202-224-2321
Charles Grassley (R-IA) 202-224-3744

TALKING POINTS

• Please do not put any provision for NAIS in the Farm Bill.
• NAIS will hurt our economy:

• There still is no cost-benefit analysis of NAIS. USDA has only recently requested one from Kansas State University. The study is unlikely to be a thorough or unbiased study, given that Kansas State has just established a federally-funded Animal Identification Center.
• Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
• Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
• Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
• Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, adding to inflation

• The USDA has provided no scientific proof to show that NAIS will improve disease control:

• It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
• It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.

• NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program
• NAIS will not improve food safety:

• USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program
• Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.

• NAIS will not protect against terrorism:

• The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
• The database of information, created by the state agency and available to USDA, will provide a target for hackers.

• NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.