BLOCK NAIS IN THE FARM BILL!

Urge Congress to Keep NAIS Out of Country of Origin Labeling and the Farm Bill

Action Alert from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance:
Ask the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry to strip section 121 out of the draft Farm Bill!

Farm bill provision on NAIS: 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 wrong direction! You can read the draft provisions of the Farm Bill at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html. And read more about NAIS and Country of Origin Labeling at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/NAIS-and-COOL

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!

Take Action: Call, fax, or write all of the following members:
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: agriculture@mail.house.gov

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: AgRepublicanPress@mail.house.gov

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.

Message: 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.

Members of the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
Name (State), Phone number, Fax number

Leonard L. Boswell, Chair (IA), (p) 202-225-3806, (f) 202-225-5608
Kirsten Gillibrand, Vice-chair (NY), (p) 202-225-5614, (f)202-225-1168
Steve Kagen (WI), (p) 202-225-5665, (f) 202-225-5729
Tim Holden (PA), (p) 202-225-5546, (f) 202-226-0996
Joe Baca (CA), (p) 202-225-6161, (f) 202-225-8671
Dennis Cardoza (CA), (p) 202-225-6131,(f) 202-225-0819
Nicholas Lampson (TX), (p) 202-225-5951, (f)202-225-5241
Joe Donnelly (IN), (p) 202-225-3915, (f) 202-225-6798
Jim Costa (CA), (p) 202-225-3341, (f) 202-225-9308
Timothy Mahoney (FL), (p) 202-225-5792, (f) 202-225-3132
Robin Hayes, Ranking Minority Member (NC), (p) 202-225-3715, (f)202-225-4036
Michael Rogers (AL), (p) 202-225-3261, (f) 202-226-8485
Steve King (IA), (p) 202-225-4426, (f) 202-225-3193
Virginia Foxx (NC), (p)202-225-2071, (f) 202-225-2995
Mike Conaway (TX), (p) 202-225-3605, (f) 202-225-1783
Jean Schmidt (OH), (p) 202-225-3164, (f) 202-225-1992
Adrian Smith (NE), (p) 202-225-6435, (f) 202-225-0207
Tim Walberg (MI), (p) 202-225-6276, (f) 202-225-6281

Talking Points

* 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.

* COOL 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. 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.

* 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.

* 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 would harm American farmers and ranchers, contrary to the goal 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 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.

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!!

Working together, we can make our voices heard!
Judith McGeary; Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance