Page 1 of 330 The Monthly National Legislation Report 7/5/2010 ...

The Monthly National Legislation Reporthttp://mnlreport.typepad.com/Page 224 of 3307/5/2010Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)April 29, 2009April 2009FEDERALHR450 - Enumerated Powers Act - A BILL To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment oflaws, and for other purposes.HR669 - A BILL To prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species' or human health,and for other purposes FROM OUR AVICULTURAL FRIENDS - VOTE NO !! HR 669 Prepared by Carol Stanley of Avicultural Society of America for our viewing and sharinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65zXWZ_9jU0 ACTION ALERT - FROM AFA, ASA, and NAIA, with additional information from PIJAC WE NEED YOUR HELP - WHETHER YOU OWN AN"EXOTIC" ANIMAL OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL. HR 669 IS SET FOR HEARING ON 4/23/09. WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO KILL HR 669 NOW. With great thanks to Marshall Meyersof PIJAC for providing their materials and for working on behalf of all of us. UPDATE: (4/27/09) - WE DID IT FOLKS!!!! Victory over HR669! You can thank yourselves and the ReptileNation, for a hard fought Victory! Our nearly 50,000 grassroots letters and 1,000s of phone calls to the offices of the subcommittee members clearly prevailed at today's Insular AffairsSubcommittee hearing on HR 669. HR 669 in it's current form is finished. For anything to go forward it MUST be re-written from the ground up....and USARK will have a seat at the tablealong with other stake holders. Delegate Faleomavega from Samoa said, "The letter and phone campaign hit the subcommittee like a BUZZ SAW". Harry Burroughs, of the subcommitteestaff said, "I haven't seen a letter writing campaign like this in 30 years! You should be proud of yourselves." Take heart in the fact that the Reptile Nation stopped HR669 in it's tracks!! Wealso need to thank Congressman Henry Brown, SC for helping us to focus our fight on the Subcommittee as opposed to the full House of Representatives. He is the one who instructed us towrite real letters to be truly effective. He said emails are fine if that is all you can manage, but they can be filtered and deleted. There is no denying the weight of thousands of paper lettersfrom American citizens. The Reptile Nation was responsible for 49,229 letters delivered to the Subcommittee in less than two weeks. Congressman Brown's staff made sure they all got in thedoor. 38,000 of those letters will be entered into the permanent record. Thank you my friends! Credit should also be given to Bill Martin, a witness who testified at the hearing. He is thePresident of Blue Ridge Aquatics, a large multi-state Tilapia farming operation. They farm Tilapia as a food fish. He had some serious problems with the bill and the ear of much of thecommittee. His plain talk of how this bill would destroy hundreds of families hit home. What they do and the impact this bill would have on them parallels the plight of the Reptile Nation.Senior Democrat staff from the House Committee on Natural Resources advised Subcommittee Chair Madeleine Bordallo that if she wants something to go forward she will have to go backto square one and draft a new bill. Then have another subcommittee hearing. When and if she does, USARK will be there to represent the interests of the Reptile Nation!! They probably willtry, and that will be our challenge for another day. But Today VICTORY is SWEET!...... Celebrate today and rest, because tomorrow we must get ready to fight again. Thank you ReptileNation! Thank you Tom Wolfe. Thank you everyone who did their part.US Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK)PIJAC THANKS PET OWNERS, HOBBYISTS, AND OTHERS WHO CAREWashington, DC, April 24, 2009 – The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) gratefully recognizes the collaborative efforts of pet owners, aquarium societies, bird clubs, herpetologicalsocieties, hobby clubs, pet organizations, and pet industry members who took time to educate their communities and express their concerns about the proposed Nonnative Wildlife InvasionPrevention Act (HR 669).Collectively our voices were heard on a bill that could potentially ban nonnative species of wildlife not specifically approved by US Fish & Wildlife Service. The petowners and keepers across America responded in great numbers, rallying together to oppose a poorly crafted piece of legislation. It was evident from several comments made during theApril 23 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife that members of the Subcommittee received an enormous response from their constituents. PIJAChas learned that members of the Subcommittee received thousands of phone calls, emails, and letters from all corners of the US urging them to defeat the bill in its current form. PIJAC’sChief Executive Officer and General Counsel Marshall Meyers, who testified at the hearing, noted, “It is clear that Committee members from both sides of the aisle heard from the petowningpublic about their concerns with this bill.” PIJAC greatly appreciates the tremendous efforts of pet owners and organizations representing all types of pets. Added Meyers, “We’reextremely grateful to the thousands of groups who galvanized their members leading up to yesterday’s hearing. This following list is just a sample of the organizations that responded --- butthanks to everyone involved whether or not you are on the list. PIJAC will continue working with members of the Subcommittee, the Executive Branch, and other stakeholders to ensure theprocess proceeds in a transparent, inclusive, and strategic manner.”PIJAC will be posting on its website – www.pijac.org – additional information on likeminded groups and up-to-date information on HR 669 as the process evolves. Much work is left to bedone as meetings are held to discuss possible amendments to the bill.Washington, DC - (4/13/09) - Louisiana’s U.S. senators are leading the charge on what one interest group is calling an increasingly advantageous political stance: national animal-welfarelegislation. U.S. Sen. David Vitter introduced a measure in February that would prevent chimpanzees from being transported across state lines. More recently, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu reintroduceda bill that would end slaughtering horses for food. The measures are examples of how the Louisiana senators have advocated for federal legislation considered crucial to theanimal-welfare movement. “They have made some of the issues their own and pushed them in Congress,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the U.S. While thetwo Louisiana senators score high on the society’s report card, Louisiana’s House delegation as a whole remains weak on these issues, Pacelle said. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. WilliamJefferson of New Orleans led the congressional House delegation with a 58 on the society’s congressional scorecard. By contrast, Landrieu and Vitter scored the society’s third-highest mark,at 67.