tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36128603.post-73570223319012177692007-05-25T11:58:00.000-04:002007-10-11T12:15:37.439-04:00<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Urge Congress to Keep NAIS Out of Country of Origin Labeling and the Farm Bill </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><strong style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Action Alert from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance:</strong> </span></span><br />Ask the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry to strip section 121 out of the draft Farm Bill!<br /><br /><strong style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></strong><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Farm bill provision on NAIS:</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> </span>A preliminary draft of certain sections of the Farm Bill was released on Wednesday afternoon. 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"). Current law prohibits mandatory NAIS for COOL, and this would be a move in the <span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><strong>wrong</strong></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"> </span>direction! You can read the draft provisions of the Farm Bill at <a href="http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html">http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html</a>. And read more about NAIS and Country of Origin Labeling at <a href="http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL">http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL</a><br /><br />The Subcommittee met today to discuss the draft. This is our first opportunity - but not the last - to ask Congress to get rid of Section 121 of the draft. Please write, email, fax, or call the Subcommittee. The fight over the Farm Bill is beginning!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Take Action:</span> </span>Call, fax, or write all of the following members:<br />1) The Honorable Leonard BoswellChairman House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock Dairy and PoultryUnited States House of Representatives Washington D.C. 20515Phone: 202-225-2171Fax: 202-225-8510Email: <a href="mailto:agriculture@mail.house.gov">agriculture@mail.house.gov</a><br /><br />2) The Honorable Robin HayesRanking Minority MemberHouse Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock Dairy and Poultry1305 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515Phone: 202-225-0029Fax: 202-225-0917 Email: <a href="mailto:AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov">AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov</a><br /><br />3) Any member of the Subcommittee who comes from your state. All of the members are listed below, and it's very important that the members hear from the people within their state.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Message:</span> Please strip Section 121 from the draft Farm Bill. The law prohibiting the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement COOL should not be changed, and NAIS should not be put into the Farm Bill.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Members of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><strong><br /></strong></span> <em>Name (State), Phone number, Fax number</em><br /><em></em><br /><strong>Leonard L. Boswell, Chair</strong> (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608<br /><strong>Kirsten Gillibrand, Vice-chair</strong> (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f)202-225-1168<br /><strong>Steve Kagen</strong> (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729<br /><strong>Tim Holden</strong> (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996<br /><strong>Joe Baca</strong> (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671<br /><strong>Dennis Cardoza</strong> (CA), (p) 202-225-6131,(f) 202-225-0819<br /><strong>Nicholas Lampson</strong> (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f)202-225-5241<br /><strong>Joe Donnelly</strong> (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798<br /><strong>Jim Costa</strong> (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308<br /><strong>Timothy Mahoney</strong> (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132<br /><strong>Robin Hayes</strong>, Ranking Minority Member (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f)202-225-4036<br /><strong>Michael Rogers</strong> (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485<br /><strong>Steve King</strong> (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193<br /><strong>Virginia Foxx</strong> (NC), (p)202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995<br /><strong>Mike Conaway</strong> (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783<br /><strong>Jean Schmidt</strong> (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992<br /><strong>Adrian Smith</strong> (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207<br /><strong>Tim Walberg</strong> (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281<br /><br /><strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"></span></strong><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Talking Points </span><br /><br />* Please strip Section 121 from the draft Farm Bill. The law prohibiting the USDA from using mandatory animal identification to implement Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) should not be changed, and NAIS should not be added to the Farm Bill.<br /><br />* COOL can and should be implemented without mandatory animal identification<br /><br />* Requiring all imported livestock to be identified with a country of origin marking is enough to implement COOL<br /><br />* Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify all domestic cattle to prove their eligibility for a USA label is not necessary for COOL. We don't need to know every farm or sales barn an animal has been in order to know it was raised in the U.S.<br /><br />* 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.<br /><br />* 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.<br /><br />* Mandatory animal identification would harm American farmers and ranchers, contrary to the goal of COOL.<br /><br />* 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. <br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">For the last 6 months, the focus of the fight against NAIS has been on individual states pushing for anti-NAIS bills. The state-level fight will continue, but it's clear that the federal-level fight is heating up. Please keep educating your friends and neighbors, we have a lot of work in front of us!!</span><br /></span></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">Working together, we can make our voices heard!</span><br /></span></em></strong> <strong>Judith McGeary; Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance</strong>Kaycie Lennoreply@blogger.com