Off to DC Again

Every year congress goes on break over the summer. How great a job is that where you get summers off like when you were a kid? Anyway, our last chance to lobby before the break will be in May. So, of course I will be heading off to lobby again in early May so that possibly we can see our bill brought out before the frantic rush of Appropriations when they return in the fall, which will overshadow our bill.

If anyone would like to join me, have me visit your Senator or Congressperson or take letters please let me know as soon as possible. I will be on the Hill May 5th, 6th and 7th. I will be visiting Senators the 6th and 7th and the House on the 5th. Please keep that in mind if you would like to schedule an appointment for me to visit your Senators or Representative. Keep in mind that if you want me to visit your Congressional folks you need to request the appointment and let them know that I, Shelley Sawhook, will be at the meeting. Then let me know the time and date so I don't schedule any other meetings at that time. If you have letters or material you would like hand delivered please mail it to me ASAP at AHDF PO Box 328 Covington, TN 38019 and I will happily deliver them. If you would like to join me let me know and I will help you try to find the least costly rooms. One possibility is the Key Bridge Holiday Inn, but there are lots of conferences planned around that time so if you would like to go you will need to make reservations early.

This is going to be the last push to get our bill heard before the break. Once Congress returns they will be focused on the budget and appropriations bills and elections, so the possibility of getting heard then is greatly lessened. If it doesn't pass this year we will be forced to start over from the beginning next year, as we did last year. We don't want to have to do that so please consider this the last big push.

As always there is something that those of you who cannot go to DC can do. You can mark that week and make calls. Let's let them know we haven't given up, that we haven't stopped watching and that we still care deeply. The folks who went in March did such great work, much thanks to Julie C (sorry Julie after all these years I still can't spell your last name), John Holland, Paula Bacon and all the others who did such an awesome job, but we need to keep up the pressure. Let's light up those phones and jam their fax machines! (Please I beg you all to keep it polite and professional, but be persistent.)

Let's give this bill one last big push to get it heard and passed this year. It has been pending for far too long. I know that there are a great deal of wonderful, passionate and determined folks out there and I know the horses can count on you for your support.

Action Alert!

Don't Let Congress Undo State and Local Animal Laws

When citizens and their state legislatures decide that a practice is so inhumane that it must not occur within their state's borders, the federal government shouldn't be able to trump the will of the people. Yet that's exactly what legislation now under consideration would do.

A small provision—Section 123—tucked into the pending Farm Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would prohibit states and localities from banning activities they deem to be contrary to public health, safety, and morals. Section 123 would undo bans on horse slaughter, intensive confinement of pigs and calves raised for veal, force-feeding of ducks and geese to make foie gras, and other important laws. It's an outrageous power grab that would undermine the democratic process and deny citizens the right to pass state or local laws on issues of humane treatment or food safety.

This could be the most urgent alert ever! If we don't get rid of Section 123, people who've worked so hard to get state and local animal protection laws passed—investing hours and hours in good faith that their involvement in the legislative process matters—will find out that their hard-won achievements are wiped out by this heavy-handed federal law.

TAKE ACTION
Please make brief, polite phone calls to your two U.S. Senators and one U.S. Representative and urge them to oppose Section 123 of the House Farm Bill. You can reach your federal legislators by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or click here to find their Capitol office phone numbers.