More Time to Take Action On the
Farm Bill!
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The House Committee on Agriculture has delayed the
vote on the Farm Bill until July 10-12. This gives us more time
to educate people and rally support!
(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
probably start work on its version of the Farm Bill the same week the
House Committee votes. Call NOW.
(4) 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. If you've already called - call again on those
days!
Background on the Farm Bill provisions: Section 121 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. Section
123 would bar states or localities from prohibiting any food or
agricultural product that USDA has deregulated. This would stop
local control over such things as genetically engineered crops or
hormones in our food.
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] or call 866-687-6452.
Listed below:
Members of the House Committee on Agriculture
Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture
Talking Points
Sample Letter/E-mail
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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/
Chair: The Honorable Collin C. Peterson
1305 Longworth House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-2171
Fax: 202-225-8510
Email: [log in to unmask]
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) 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
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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 at http://www.senate.gov/
Chair: Senator Harkin
Room SR-328A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC. 20510-6000
Phone: 202-224-2035
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, e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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, E-mail: https://conrad.senate.gov/...
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
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Talking Points
* Please strip Sections 121 and 123
from the draft Farm Bill. I oppose both the National Animal ID
System (NAIS) and pre-emption of state and local control of our food
supply.
*Section 121 / National Animal ID
System: The law barring the USDA from using mandatory animal
identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not
be changed.
--COOL can be
implemented simply by requiring that all imports of live animals or food
be identified with a country of origin marking. Requiring U.S. livestock
owners to individually identify and track all domestic livestock is not
necessary.
--Using
mandatory animal identification to implement COOL would impose heavy
burdens on American farmers and ranchers, in both time and money. A
National Animal ID System (NAIS) would 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.
--NAIS will
harm American farmers and ranchers, directly contrary to the goal of
COOL.
* Section 123 / Federal Pre-emption:
Section 123 section would pre-empt the rights of state and local
governments to regulate food or agricultural products that USDA has
granted "non-regulated" status. This deprives citizens of
their rights to enact laws to protect health and public safety at the
local level. Local and state governments need to retain their
authority to regulate food and agricultural products, including
genetically engineered (GE) foods and crops.
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Sample letter or email
If you use email, be sure to put a clear subject
line, such as "Keep NAIS and Pre-emption language out of the
Draft Farm Bill"
Dear Chairman Peterson and Members of the
Committee:
I ask that you strip Sections 121 and 123 from the
draft Farm Bill. Section 121 would allow the USDA to use mandatory animal
identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling, while Section 123
would pre-empt state and local laws regulating food and agricultural
products. I strongly oppose both provisions.
I am a _______ (farmer, consumer, ... Tell
them a few sentences about yourself and why you care about this issue)
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. COOL can be
implemented 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 and track all livestock is 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, canceling out the benefits of COOL.
In addition, state and local government regulation
of our food supply should not be preempted by the USDA. Citizens
across the country have sought local and state regulations to address
critical concerns, including the use of genetically engineered foods and
crops. Section 123 is a back-door means of wiping out state and
local food safety laws. This provision has no place in the Farm Bill.
Please strip Sections 121 and 123 from the draft
Farm Bill, keep NAIS out of the Farm Bill, and protect local control of
our food supply.
Name
Address
City, State Zip
Email ( if you have it)
Cc: Senator Harkin
Senator ___________ (your
Senator)
Congressman __________ (your
Congressman)
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Working together, we can make our voices heard.
Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
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