Action Alert
February 24, 2007
SB 486
The situation with SB 486 has been very confusing, so please read carefully.
WHAT TO DO:
- Call your State Senator. If you don't know who your
legislator is, you can find out at:
www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/ - Tell your Senator to vote "NO" on Senator Hershman's amendment to SB 486
- Tell your Senator to vote "YES" to SB 486 as it was originally introduced and passed by the Committee on Agriculture, by an 8-1 vote.
WHEN: Immediately! All Senate bills must be voted on in the
Senate by Wednesday, February 28th. So the vote on SB 486 and the
Hershman amendment will be this Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. You can
follow what is happening in the Legislature at:
www.in.gov/legislative/. It
is critical that you CALL your Senator or FAX a letter. Hard copy
letters or emails will not get their attention quickly enough.
EXPLANATION: The original version of SB 486 is very similar to the Liberty Ark model bill, and would bar NAIS completely - the government could NOT implement a mandatory or voluntary NAIS, or any portion of it. The bill even protects against abuses of private voluntary programs. This bill was approved by Committee on February 19th by an 8-1 vote.
After the Committee hearing, the author of the bill, Senator Steele, proposed to amend it to:
- keep mandatory premises registration in place;
- allow voluntary animal ID and tracking; and
- provide no protections against coercion.
This was when we sent our second action alert saying NOT to support SB 486.
Now, Senator Steele has decided NOT to move forward with the
amendment. But Senator Hershman has filed the same amendment! You can
read both the original bill and the amendment at:
www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo
?year=2007&session=1&request=getBill&docno=486
So we need to stop Senator Hershman's amendment and save the original version of SB 486.
Below are talking points for calling and a sample letter for
faxing. Be polite, concise, and explain why this issue is important to
you. As always, if you have questions or concerns, you can reach us at:
noah@libertyark.net.
Talking points for calls:
Please vote "No" on Senator Hershman's amendment to SB 486. Then vote "Yes" to the original, unamended version of SB 486, which was approved by the Agriculture Committee by an 8-1 vote.
Hershman's amendment does not stop the abuses under NAIS:
- Mandatory premises registration violates our rights. For the first time in our history, individuals would be required to register with the government simply because they own animals.
- Voluntary animal identification and tracking could easily be abused by the government forcing people to participate in NAIS in order to buy, sell, or slaughter animals, go to shows, etc.
- SB 486, as originally proposed and approved by the Committee, would prevent these abuses. It still allows for a private, market-driven program that can address the interests of commercial producers.
NAIS will hurt Indiana's economy:
- There has been no cost analysis by USDA or Indiana Department of Agriculture (IDA)
- Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
- Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
- Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
- Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, lowering demand for local foods
Neither the USDA nor the IDA has scientific proof show that NAIS will improve disease control:
- It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
- It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.
NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program.
NAIS will not improve food safety:
- USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program.
- Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.
NAIS will not protect against terrorism:
- The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
- The database of information, created by IDA and available to USDA, will provide a target for hackers.
NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.
USDA states that NAIS is voluntary at the federal level, so there is no "federal mandate" requiring Indiana to implement this program.
Other states are also rejecting or limiting NAIS, so Indiana will not be disadvantaged by refusing to participate.
Sample letter for FAX - Personalize and put it into your own words for the greatest effect!!
Dear Senator ____:
Please vote "No" on Senator Hershmann's amendment to SB 486. Then vote "Yes" to the original, unamended version of SB 486, which was approved by the Agriculture Committee by an 8-1 vote.
I am a ____ (small farmer, consumer, taxpayer - tell them a sentence about yourself). I am opposed to all three stages of NAIS - premises registration, animal identification, and tracking - because they impose heavy burdens on our rights and our economy, without providing any real benefits. Neither the USDA nor the Indiana State Department of Agriculture has provided any scientific basis for the claims of improved disease control. NAIS is an unprecedented expansion of the government bureaucracy into people's private lives and infringes on our property rights. NAIS will drive many small and medium-size farmers and ranchers out of business and discourage people from owning horses and other livestock as pets, resulting in far-reaching effects on our economy. The only winners in this program are the microchip manufacturers, the associations that will manage the databases, and the government employees.
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Name
Address
City, State, Zip