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To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates
From: Bill Bullard, CEO
Date: March 26, 2007
Subject: Alert 1 of 3: R-CALF USA Members Must Express their Desire to Immediately Implement COOL to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee
The USDA and the meatpacking and retailing segments of our industry are putting tremendous pressure on members of the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee (House Agriculture Committee) to both weaken COOL and to prevent its timely implementation.
We can counteract this pressure if all R-CALF USA members and affiliates would send a letter to both the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee. In addition, if members and affiliates have a U.S. Representative that serves on the House Agriculture Committee, they should send a letter to them as well. Even if your Representative doesn’t serve on the House Agriculture Committee, it would also be helpful if you would send a letter to him or her so all of Congress knows the cattle producers’ position on COOL.
We need to build a solid wall of opposition to any attempt to weaken COOL or to delay its implementation. The way to do this is for thousands of letters to be sent to Members of Congress by their constituents right now. We need to show Congress how serious we are about COOL while it is early in the congressional process, rather than to wait until they are ready to cast a vote.
Please consider sending your letters before the end of this week as it will help set the stage for what the Representatives will talk about during their Congressional Recess the first two weeks of April.
Two more Alerts will follow this message.
The second Alert will contain an outline of the message R-CALF USA believes is necessary to counteract the pressure of the USDA, the meatpackers, and the retailers. Feel free to use this outline to draft your personal letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, and to your own Representative, particularly if they serve on the House Agriculture Committee.
Be sure to personalize your letters – you don’t want Congress to think it came from a lobbyist. You want Congress to know that you are a cattle producer so tell them who you are, where you live, how important a competitive cattle industry is to you and why COOL is important to the viability of your farm or ranch. You will want to do this in the introduction of your letter, which can be followed by mentioning some or all of the positions contained in the forthcoming outline.
The third Alert will be a list of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee members, along with contact information for contacting the Chairman, Ranking Member, and your individual representatives.
Now is the time to demonstrate the U.S. cattle industry’s resolve for implementing the COOL law as quickly as possible, without tying COOL to animal ID. And, we’re strong enough to do this if all R-CALF USA members and affiliates help! Thank you.
To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates
From: Bill Bullard, CEO
Date: March 26, 2007
Subject: Alert 2 of 3: R-CALF USA Outline of Key COOL Issues
R-CALF USA COOL POSITION OUTLINE
· Mandatory COOL should be implemented no later than September 30, 2007.
o Producers and consumers have waited 5 years for COOL for beef, lamb, pork, fruits and vegetables, and peanuts – they should not have to wait any longer.
· The COOL law is workable. It is only USDA’s proposed rule that is unworkable. USDA’s proposed rule is much more expansive and prescriptive than the COOL law.
o USDA simplified its proposed rule when Congress ordered COOL for fish. USDA made eight specific corrections that can be used to immediately implement COOL for beef and other commodities. View these corrections at http://r-calfusa.com/COOL/COOL%20fish%20reg%20costs%20benefits%20draft%20comments%2002-26-07%20(3).pdf.
· Congress must not surrender to USDA and the meatpacking and retailing industries by changing the primary requirements of the COOL law.
o The born, raised and slaughtered requirement must remain intact: § Imported cattle fed in the U.S., must not be eligible for the USA label: Ø Beef from imported cattle competes against beef from domestic cattle. Ø Imported cattle impact the demand and price for domestic cattle. Not differentiating beef from domestic cattle from beef from imported cattle will artificially reduce the demand and price for domestic cattle.
o Retailers, and persons that supply beef to retailers, must remain responsible for proper COOL labeling. Cattle producers must not be included in this chain of responsibility: § The responsibility of identifying the origins of imported cattle must be born by those who choose to sell beef from imported cattle, not U.S. producers who are competing against beef from imported cattle.
o Congress must retain the directive that USDA use models like the National School Lunch Act to implement COOL. § Congress intended for USDA to identify products ineligible for the USA label and presume all others to be domestic. All cattle from Canada and Mexico are already required to be permanently marked or transported in sealed trucks. These cattle are identifiable and excluded from eligibility for the USA label. All unmarked cattle are to be presumed born and raised in the U.S. This is how the School Lunch Act functions.
o A mandatory animal identification system must not be used to implement COOL. § Requiring U.S. cattle producers to individually identify all domestic cattle to prove their eligibility for a USA label is overkill, particularly when the only way U.S. cattle producers’ cattle could be ineligible is if they were imported. Congress should not impose such heavy-handedness on U.S. cattle producers to implement COOL.
To: R-CALF USA Members and Affiliates
From: Bill Bullard, CEO
Date: March 26, 2007
Subject: Alert 3 of 3: List of U.S. House Agriculture Committee
United States House Agriculture Committee How to contact: You can contact Chairman Collin Peterson and Ranking Minority Member Bob Goodlatte at:
House Committee on Agriculture
Phone: 202-225-2171 Email: agriculture@mail.house.gov To e-mail your state’s Agriculture Committee members, go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ U.S. Agriculture Committee Members: If you push the “Ctrl” key and then simultaneously click on your Representatives name below, you will go directly to your Representatives website where you can obtain their fax numbers. If you have the fax or e-mail address to your Representative’s district office in your state, you should send a copy of your letter there as well.Democratic Majority Members:
Republican Minority Members:
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This page was last updated on Monday, June 02, 2008. |
Membership Action Alerts