Newsflash : New Action Required on NAIS

Cripple NAIS so that it can never be implimented as anything but a volunteer program! I received this message in my email today, please read it and sign the petition.

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At last, some good news about NAIS. Contact your legislators and urge
them to support the Talent-Emerson bill.

http://tinyurl.com/ov2oa

Legislators Introduce Measure to Prohibit Mandatory Animal ID System
The Talent-Emerson bill would prohibit the USDA from mandating livestock
owner participation in a NAIS. (9/8/2006) Farm Futures staff
U.S. Senator Jim Talent, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Agriculture
Committee, introduced legislation on Sept. 7 that would prohibit USDA from
developing a mandatory National Animal Identification System. U.S.
Representative Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., introduced companion legislation in
the House to make the Department's animal identification system strictly
voluntary.

"The development and implementation of an animal ID system must be
voluntary and done in cooperation with producers rather than by coercing
them to participate, " says Talent, chairman of the subcommittee on
marketing, inspection and promotion. "I have made this point repeatedly to
USDA. This legislation takes the next step in prohibiting the Department
from implementing or enacting a mandatory National Animal Identification
System."

The Talent-Emerson bill would prohibit the USDA from mandating livestock
owner participation in a NAIS. The legislation would also address privacy
concerns stemming from the collection of registration information in a
voluntary program. Under the Talent-Emerson proposal, confidential records
submitted to USDA by livestock owners would not be subject to any request
under the Freedom of Information Act and could only be shared with other
departments under specific circumstances.

"A well constructed voluntary system will offer opportunities for
participating ranchers to increase their profits," Talent says. "However,
we are a long way from getting the infrastructure in place for such a
program and concerns about forced participation will only deflect time and
attention from the issues we must address for ranchers in Missouri and
across the nation."
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Of course my opinion is that anything making manditory implimentation of NAIS illegal is a good thing, but let's not just stop fighting it at that level. I understand the baby steps concept, and I sincerely urge anyone and everyone to sign the petition (have your friends & family sign it too), but we need to keep pushing for more restrictions on any program like NAIS. I do not put it past the government to pass this legistlature, but make it so that people have to have a NAIS member card or some such to be able to purchase feed or supplies at a farm store.

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