***USA - ACTION ALERT***

 July 29, 2009

Senate voting on NAIS funding

Call your Senators TODAY to urge that NAIS funding be cut.  The Senate is expected to consider the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill as soon as Wednesday evening.  Unfortunately, the bill has over $14 million allocated for NAIS.

Senator Tester (D-MT) will introduce an amendment to cut that funding in half.

After the Senate votes, the bill will go to a conference committee to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions.  Although the Tester amendment does not eliminate NAIS funding in the Senate version, it would reduce the funding and will help us push for no funding in the conference committee.  So it's a step in the right direction.

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 cut the NAIS funding?"

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.

Remember to call both your Senators!  Two ways to contact them:
1.  Go to www.Senate.gov and enter your State in the box in the upper right-hand corner
2. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators' offices

With Regards,

Pete Kennedy, Esq.
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund President