What We Can Do

I was asked the other day about what we can do to put a stop to NAIS. I just recieved this email, and thought others might want to read it.

Sent: Monday, October 29, 2007 4:46 AM

Subject: [District1News] Farm Bill Opens Door to NAIS- Contact Your Senators, Media and Friends.

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. While this section
does not directly implement or mandate NAIS, it does imply
Congressional approval of what the USDA has been doing -- which is bad
news!
The Senate is expected to vote on the Farm Bill within the next 2
weeks, and then it will go to a conference committee with both Senators
and Representatives. So the first priority is to pressure our
Senators to take the NAIS provision out on the floor. If that fails,
then we will be faced with a conference committee, and will need both
Senate and House members to be educated about NAIS.


Take Action:

1) Call or fax both of your Senators immediately. You can find
contact information for your Senators here.

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 for the same reasons - it is an expensive and
intrusive program that will not actually improve animal health or food
safety.

2) Call or fax your Representative. You can find contact information
for your Representative here. Use the same message as for your Senators.

Helpful Hints for Contacting Legislators by Phone or Fax

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. 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 Farm Bill

Section 10305. 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.

Competition Provisions: Most of the competition provisions did make it
through committee, which is good news. For more information on those,
check out the actual language of the Livestock Title here.

We will send out additional alerts about any developments in the Farm
Bill fight. Please stay tuned and be ready to take action again!

Sincerely,


Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance