Action Alert
January 22, 2007
Legislation introduced to stop NAIS
Senator Steele has introduced legislation to stop NAIS in Indiana!
You can read the full text of SB 486 at:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2007/IN/IN0486.1.html
Call or write your Senator and Representative TODAY to urge him or
her to support SB 486! If you are not sure who your legislators are,
go to:
http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/
A sample letter is included at the end of this alert. Be sure to personalize the letter for the greatest impact!
Below are the members of the Senate Agriculture and Small Business Committee, which is the Committee that will first hear SB 486. In addition to contacting your own legislators, you can make the greatest impact by calling or writing all of the Committee members as well. You can call 1-800-382-9467 to ask to be connected to any of them. A link to their online comment form is next to each Senator's name.
Johnny Nugent:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Nugent,Johnny|s43|sr
John M. Waterman:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Waterman,John%20W.|s39|sr
Brandt Hershman:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Hershman,Brandt|s7|sr
Robert Jackman:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Jackman,Robert%20N.,D.V.M.|s42|sr
Allen Paul:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Paul,Allen%20E.|s27|sr
Greg Walker:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Walker,Greg|s41|sr
Joseph Zakas:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Zakas,Joseph%20C.|s11|sr
Richard Young:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Young,%20Richard%20D.,%20Jr.|s47|sd
Bob Deig:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Deig,Bob|s49|sd
Lindel Hume:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Hume,%20Lindel|s48|sd
Jim Lewis:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/senate_democrats/homepages/s45/
Please also thank Senator Steele for taking this step! You can
reach him at the same phone number as the others, or through his
online form at:
http://www.in.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl?data=Senate|
Steele,Brent|s44|sr
As always, if you have questions or concerns, you can reach us at noah@libertyark.net. GET YOUR FRIENDS TO SIGN UP TO SUPPORT LIBERTY ARK'S FIGHT AGAINST NAIS. SEND THEM THIS LINK: http://libertyark.net/pledge.dyn
Dear ______________:
I am a _________ (small farmer, consumer of local foods, horse owner, taxpayer. Tell them a little bit about yourself and why you care about this issue). I am writing to ask that you support Senate Bill 486, which would stop the establishment of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in Indiana
If it is made mandatory, NAIS would require that every person who owns even one chicken, horse, cow, sheep, goat, pig, or other livestock animal:
- Register their premises in a federal database;
- Identify each animal with an internationally unique 15-digit number when they are moved from their herd of origin or commingled with other animals. For many species, the preferred identification is electronic. Integrated poultry and swine producers may use "group numbers," but most small farmers and pet owners will not qualify.
- Track their animals: The owner must report, within 24 hours, events such as tagging the animal, death or slaughter, public and private sales, and regional shows.
Indiana was one of the first states to make premises registration mandatory, and there is every indication that the agency plans to continue implementing the full program.
NAIS is an unprecedented expansion of the government bureaucracy into people's private lives and infringes on our property rights. NAIS will impose heavy burdens on livestock owners, driving many small and medium-size farmers and ranchers out of business and discouraging people from owning horses and other livestock as pets. This in turn will drive related businesses, such as feed stores, slaughterhouses, and auction barns, out of business. The economic effects will be wide-reaching. Despite spending over $84 million dollars on NAIS since 2004, the USDA has not done a cost/benefit analysis of NAIS nor has the state agency.
USDA has produced no scientific basis for its disease-control claims. Existing programs and systems, such as the scrapie program, branding, and metal tagging, have been sufficient to track disease. If anything, NAIS will increase disease threats because it will criminalize ownership of livestock without registration, and lead to black market livestock ownership and sales. Disease programs must be designed for each specific disease and animal. A one-size-fits-all program is useless.
NAIS will not increase the safety of our food supply. Most food-borne illnesses are from organisms that contaminate food due to poor practices at slaughterhouses or in food handling and preparation. NAIS tracking ends at the time of slaughter, so it will not address these issues or increase our ability to trace contaminated meats once they are in the food supply chain.
By driving small farmers out of existence, NAIS will increase the consolidation of our food supply into a small number of large companies, destroying consumers' food purchasing options and increasing prices. The only winners in this program are the microchip manufacturers, the associations that will manage the databases, and the government employees.
I ask that you support Senate Bill 486 to stop NAIS in our state.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip code
Email if you have it