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From Comcast listserv:

Susan Smalley (MSUE) shared this with me about the Farm Bill, thought you may be interested.

Greetings everyone,

Please pardon me if this is too off-topic for this list. I thought it seemed
like something at least a few folks would be interested to know. This came
to me from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance mailing list, a grassroots
organization working against the National Animal ID System, which I consider
to be a potentially serious problem for local small farmers.

I've edited some stuff out in the interest of brevity. I can send you a full
copy if you'd like one, just drop me a note.

Thanks,
-Paula



------ Forwarded Message
From: Judith McGeary <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2007 18:23:11 -0400 (EDT)
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Contact the House Agriculture Committee about the Farm Bill!


Contact House Committee on Agriculture About the Farm Bill
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The House Committee on Agriculture is working on a draft version of the Farm
Bill that includes two sections that pose a threat to our food supply.  The
draft language would link the National Animal ID System (NAIS) to Country of
Origin Labeling and pre-empt local control of our foods.

DRAFT FARM BILL PROVISIONS:  Section 121 of the draft 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 at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.dtkpkacab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Ffarmandranchfreedom.org%2Fcontent%2FNAIS-and-COOL]

Section 123 of the draft would bar states or localities from prohibiting any
food or agricultural product that USDA has deregulated.  This provision
would deny local or state and state rights to regulate such things as
genetically engineered crops or food.   You can read the proposed provisions
at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/110/LDP.pdf
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.rogiyacab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fagriculture.house.gov%2Finside%2FLegislation%2F110%2FLDP.pdf].

The House Committee needs to hear from you NOW!  Below is the contact
information for the Chair and the Ranking Minority Member of the Committee.
Call or write them, using the talking points and a sample letter that are at
the end of this alert. And if one or more of the members of the Committee
are from your state, send them a copy of your letter as well.

We also need to educate the Senate Committee on Agriculture and the rest of
Congress, to provide protection against whatever the House Committee may
pass.  Contact information for the Senate Agriculture Committee, and your
Congressman and Senator, are also listed below.

TAKE ACTION: Talking points and a sample letter are at the end of this
alert.  Please write, email, fax, or call following members (listed in order
of importance):

1)  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: [log in to unmask] [ mailto:[log in to unmask]]

2)  The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
Ranking Minority Member, House Committee on Agriculture
1305 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0029
Fax: 202-225-0917
Email: [log in to unmask]
[ mailto:[log in to unmask]]

3) Any member of the House Committee on Agriculture who comes from your
state. All of the members are listed below, and it's important that the
members hear from the people within their state.  The members are listed in
order of their states (starting with Alabama and ending with Wisconsin).

4)  Senator Harkin
Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry
Room SR-328A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC. 20510-6000
Phone: 202-224-2035

5)  Your Congressman and Senator: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.n8g8c7bab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2Fwriterep%2F]
and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.togiyacab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fwww.senate.gov%2Fgeneral%2Fcontact_information%2Fsenators_cfm.cfm]

Message:  Please strip Sections 121 and 123 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 put into the Farm Bill.
Further, the USDA should not be able to pre-empt state and local government
control over food safety.

As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us at
[log in to unmask]
[ mailto:[log in to unmask]] or call 866-687-6452.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Members of House Committee on Agriculture

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 at
http://www.house.gov/
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.vogiyacab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2F]

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, 9f) 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) 800-763-1611, (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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Working together, we can make our voices heard.

Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance

www.farmandranchfreedom.org
[http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=etshyacab.0.s8g8c7bab.bz6ym9bab.1223&ts=S0250&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fwww.farmandranchfreedom.org%2F]
(p) 512-243-9404
(toll free) 866-687-6452
============================================================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance | 8308 Sassman Rd | Austin | TX | 78747

--------- End Forwarded Message

Susan B. Smalley, Ph.D.
Extension Specialist
C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at Michigan State University
Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS)
303 Natural Resources Building
East Lansing, MI 48824-1222

[log in to unmask]
517.432.0049 voice
517.353.3834 fax

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