NAIS Alert!

R-CALF USA Member Action Alert

(This is not a News Release)

To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates

Date: July 29, 2009

Subject: Urgent Calls Needed: Call your Senator TODAY to urge that NAIS funding be cut.

Call your Senator TODAY to urge that NAIS funding be cut!

Some members have called expressing confusion over our earlier alert. It can be a confusing process, so here's an attempt to clarify:1) The House of Representatives passed the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill with no funding for NAIS. 2) The Senate Appropriations Committee included more than $14 million for NAIS in its version of the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill.3) The full Senate is expected to begin debate on the Appropriations bill this evening (Wednesday) or tomorrow.4) Senator Tester plans to introduce an amendment on the Senate floor to cut the funding for NAIS in half, to approximately $7 million.5) After the Senate votes, there will be a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.Our goal is to stop all funding for NAIS. The Tester amendment doesn't get us all the way there, but it is a step in the right direction. The less funding the Senate includes, the better our chances to convince the conference committee to stop all funding.Call or email your Senators TODAY and ask them to support the Tester Amendment to cut NAIS funding.

What you can say when you call:

"I am a constituent, and I am calling to urge Senator ______ to support the Tester Amendment to decrease the funding of Animal ID (NAIS) in the Appropriations Bill when it comes to the floor. I want all funding for NAIS stopped, and this amendment is a good step in that direction. Will Senator _____ support Tester's amendment to reduce the NAIS funding?"You can contact your Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or go to www.senate.gov Be sure to call BOTH of the Senators from your State!

Additional talking points:*

NAIS does not address the prevention or treatment of disease. It is only an after-the-fact tracking program, and USDA has not shown that NAIS will improve on existing tracking methods.*

NAIS does nothing to improve food safety because the tracking ends when the animal dies, while the vast majority of foodborne illnesses are due to contamination at the slaughterhouse or during processing.*

NAIS will cost animal owners and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, while benefiting only large agribusiness and technology companies.* It is time to stop wasteful spending for a system that won’t work.

HR 2749, Food Safety Enhancement Act, heading to a vote

HR 2749 is on the calendar to be voted on by the full House of Representatives this afternoon. Since it will be considered under a suspension of the normal rules, there will be no floor amendments and limited debate. At this time, we do not know which provisions of the Farr-Kaptur proposal will be included in the bill or if any other changes have been made to address the concerns of small farmers and local food processors.
The above information is from Judith McGeary, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
Here is a sample of what Region VI Director/President Dr. Max Thornsberry sent:
Please do not vote to appropriate any funds to NAIS. The USDA has spent many millions of tax payer dollars on a program that has been a total failure. At the many listening session the USDA conducted all over the U.S., and in Missouri, they, the USDA, received a resounding “No” from all classes of livestock producers. We have the best disease control and trace back systems in this country compared with any where else I have visited in the world, and I have been to many different countries on livestock related visits, studies, or epidemiological surveys.

Please do not allow any more money to be poured down this rat hole!!!

R. M. Thornsberry, D.V.M., M.B.A.