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Update on the Farm Bill:
Call Your Senators!
The Senate Agriculture Committee approved the Farm Bill with Section
10305, which defines NAIS and provides exceptions from public disclosure
for information
collected under NAIS. This section does not directly implement or mandate
NAIS, but it does imply Congressional approval of what the USDA has
been doing.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the Farm Bill next week. After
that, it will
go to a conference committee with both Senators and Representatives.
Also,
sometime in the next two months the Senate will vote on the Agriculture
Appropriations bill, which provides funding for NAIS. So the first priority
is to
pressure our Senators to take NAIS out of the Farm Bill on the floor.
The second
priority is to educate both the Senators and the Representatives about
the problems with NAIS generally and the need to stop funding.
Take Action
1) Call or fax both of your Senators immediately. You can find contact
information for your Senators at http://www.senate.gov.
MESSAGE 1: Take Section 10305 out of the Farm Bill
because it implies approval of USDA's implementation of NAIS. Section
10305 also provides false reassurance that the information in the databases
will be confidential, when experience has shown that information in
databases is vulnerable to both hackers and marketing misuse.
Some reasons NAIS needs to be stopped, not encouraged:
* There is no evidence that it will improve animal disease control
* It will not increase food safety, because food contamination happens
at the
slaughterhouses and processing plants
* It will cost billions of dollars that individual farmers and our economy
cannot afford
* USDA's implementation of the program, through funding of state programs,
has
resulted in fraudulent and coercive methods being used to increase
registrations.
* Regardless of the protections in the bill, having the government or
private
entities compile this information leaves us open to harassment or worse
by
people who hack into that database or use the information for purposes
other
than what is intended.
MESSAGE 2: Congress should stop funding NAIS because
it is an expensive and
intrusive program that will not actually improve animal health or food
safety.
Email the staffer a copy of the letter that the Liberty Ark Coalition
sent to the
Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees - you can find it at
http://www.libertyark.net/ltr-102407.pdf
2) Call or fax your Representative. You can find contact information
for your
Representative at http://www.house.gov/.
Use the same message as for your Senators.
For more information on NAIS, go to www.farmandranchfreedom.org,
or contact
Judith@farmandranchfreedom.org
HELPFUL HINTS FOR CONTACTING LEGISLATORS
If you are calling your Senators, and don't have unlimited long-distance,
here are
some toll-free numbers for the Capitol Switchboard:
866-340-9281
800-417-7666
877-851-6437
866-220-0044
Remember to ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural issues.
If he or
she is not available, leave a detailed voice mail message, including
the fact that
you are a constituent and your phone number.
If you prefer to write a letter, it is best to FAX the letter to your
Senator or
Representative. Because of security measures, letters mailed to DC take
weeks or
months to get there. If you can't fax, then either mail a letter to
the local
district office or use email. With email, we recommend that you follow
up with a
call, to make sure the email does not simply get overlooked. (Or just
use the
talking points above and call.)
Sample Letter:
Dear _________:
I oppose Section 10305 of the Farm Bill because it implies approval
of the USDA's
National Animal Identification System (NAIS). NAIS has never been approved
or even debated by either branch of Congress and few members of the
Senate or House know the details of the program. The USDA has not provided
any scientific basis for this "feel good" program that will
cost farmers and taxpayers billions of dollars, resulting in irreparable
harm to independent agriculture in this country. Although USDA claims
the program is voluntary, it has funded coercive and misleading methods
used by both states and private entities to force people to participate.
I urge you to remove section 10305 from the Farm Bill and to stop funding
for NAIS.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
City, State Zip
More Information on the NAIS in the Farm Bill
Section 10305 of the Farm Bill, as approved by the Senate Agriculture
Committee, amends the Animal Health Protection Act to (1) insert a definition
of NAIS; and (2) provide various exceptions from public disclosure for
information collected under NAIS. The inclusion of Section 10305 represents
a tacit approval of NAIS, which is a very serious problem for the grassroots
opposition to NAIS. But it is not a complete adoption of NAIS, nor does
it mandate NAIS directly. Section 10305 represents a battle in this
war against NAIS, but it is not a decisive battle for either side. It's
critical that we keep working to educate all the Senators and Representatives
about NAIS, and why it is the wrong thing for America.
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