Action Alert
July 9, 2007
Keep Telling the House Committee on Agriculture
to Take Mandatory Animal ID Out of the Farm Bill!!
The House Committee on Agriculture has delayed consideration of the Farm Bill yet again, until July 17-19. So if you haven't called them yet, you still have time! And if you have called, feel free to call again!!
Chairman Peterson has released a new Chairman's Mark for Full Committee Consideration. The section linking NAIS to COOL has been re-numbered as Section 11101. Like the previous Section 121, Section 11101 would allow the USDA to use a mandatory animal identification system in order to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). This would open the door for the USDA to link the National Animal ID System (NAIS) to COOL, forcing small farms out of business and harming our local food supply. Read more about NAIS and COOL here.
First, contact Chairman Collin Peterson:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Second, contact any member of the House Agriculture Committee who comes from your state. They are all listed below, in order of their states, starting with Alabama and ending with Wisconsin.
Third, contact Senator Harkin and any member of the Senate Agriculture Committee who comes from your state. They are listed after the House Committee below. The Senate Committee will be starting work on the Farm Bill at the end of July, and this may be our best hope for getting NAIS taken back out of the Farm Bill.
Last, contact your own Representative and Senator, or call the Capitol Switchboard at . Ask your Congressman and Senators to speak with the Chairs of the Committee, and any members of the Committee from your state, on your behalf.
MESSAGE: Please strip Section 11101 from the Farm Bill. The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL should not be changed, and NAIS should not be put into the Farm Bill.
If you have any questions, email us at .
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Name (State), Phone number, Fax number. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find here.
Terry Everett (AL), (p) , (f)
Michael Rogers (AL), (p) , (f)
Jo Bonner (AL), (p) , (f)
Joe Baca (CA), (p) , (f)
Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) , (f)
Jim Costa (CA), (p) , (f)
Kevin McCarthy (CA), , (f)
John T. Salazar (CO), (p) , (f)
Marilyn Musgrove (CO), (p) , (f)
Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) , (f)
David Scott (GA), (p) , (f)
Jim Marshall (GA), (p) , (f)
John Barrow (GA), (p) , (f)
Leonard L. Boswell, (IA), (p) , (f)
Steve King (IA), (p) , (f)
Timothy Johnson (IL), , (f)
Brad Ellsworth (IN), (p) , (f)
Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) , (f)
Nancy Boyda (KS), (p) , (f)
Jerry Moran (KS), (p) , (f)
Charles W. Boustany, Hr. (LA), (p) , (f)
Tim Walberg (MI), (p) , (f)
Collin Peterson (MN), (p) , (f)
Timothy J. Walz (MN), (p) , (f)
Sam Graves (MO), (p) , (f)
Earl Pomeroy, (ND), (p) , (f)
Mike McIntyre (NC), (p) , (f)
Bob Etheridge (NC), (p) , (f)
Robin Hayes, (NC), (p) , (f)
Virginia Foxx (NC), (p) , (f)
Jeff Fortnberry (NE), (p) , (f)
Adrian Smith (NE), (p) , (f)
Kirsten Gillibrand, (NY), (p) , (f)
John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (NY), , (f)
Zachary T. Space (OH), (p) , (f)
Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) , (f)
Frank D. Lucas (OK), (p) , (f)
Tim Holden (PA), (p) , (f)
Stephanie Herseth Sandline, (SD), (p) , (f)
Lincoln Davis (TN), (p) , (f)
Henry Cuellar (TX), (p) , (f)
Mike Conaway (TX), (p) , (f)
Randy Neugebauer (TX), (p) , (f)
Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) , (f)
Bob Goodlatte (VA), (p) , (f)
Steve Kagen (WI), (p) , (f)
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Name (State), Phone number, Fax number. If you want to use e-mail, then go to the Congressperson's website, which you can find here.
Chair: Tom Harkin (IA), (p) , (f)
Blanche Lincoln (AR), (p) , (f)
Ken Salazar (CO), (p) , (f)
Saxby Chambliss (GA), (p) , (f)
Mike Crapo (ID), (p) , (f)
Charles Grassley (IA), (p) , (f)
Richard Lugar (IN), (p) , (f)
Pat Roberts (KS), (p) , (f)
Mitch McConnell (KY), (p) , (f)
Debbie Stabenow (MI), (p) , e-mail:
Norm Coleman (MN), (p) , (f)
Amy Klobuchar (MN), (p)
Thad Cochran (MS), (p)
Max Baucus (MT), (p) , (f)
E. Banjamin Nelson (NE), (p) , (f)
Kent Conrad (ND), (p) , (f)
Sherrod Brown (OH), (p): , (f)
Robert Casey, Jr. (PA), (p): , (f)
Lindsey Graham (SC), (p)
John Thune (SD), (p) , (f)
Patrick Leahy (VT), (p)
TALKING POINTS TO STOP NAIS
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Mandatory animal identification would harm American farmers and ranchers, contrary to the goal of COOL.
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- 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.
SAMPLE LETTER OR EMAIL -- Personalize for the greatest impact
If you use email, be sure to put a clear subject line, such as "Strip Section 11101 from the Farm Bill - Keep NAIS out of the Farm Bill"
Dear Chairman Peterson and Members of the Committee:
I ask that you strip Section 11101 from the Farm Bill. The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not be changed, and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) should not be added to the Farm Bill.
I am a _______ (farmer, consumer, - . Tell them a few sentences about yourself and why you care about this issue)
COOL can be implemented simply by requiring all imported livestock to be identified with a country of origin marking, which is already a requirement for cattle imported from Mexico or Canada. Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify all domestic cattle to prove their eligibility for a USA label is simply not necessary. Using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL will 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 will harm all Americans' rights and our economy. Mandatory animal identification will cancel out the goals 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 program such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). If NAIS is implemented, consumers will 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.
Please strip Section 11101 from the Farm Bill, and keep NAIS out of the Farm Bill.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Email (if you have it)
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