To: R-CALF USA Members, Affiliates, and Friends

From: Bill Bullard, CEO

Date: January 20, 2022

Subject: MCOOL or Bust! Call-in Week Jan. 24-28

Background:  There’s really only one way to win – Never Quit! Your R-CALF USA organization and all of you, the members, are both recognized and credited with keeping mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) alive.

From its original passage in the 2002 Farm Bill, to its “partial implementation” in 2009, to its full implementation in 2013, to its repeal in 2015, and to its resurrection in September 2021 in the American Beef Labeling Act of 2021 (S.2716), the MCOOL for beef bill, no other group of cattle farmers and ranchers have demonstrated such absolute and relentless resolve.  Thank you!

So now it’s back to work.  S.2716 is truly a bipartisan bill with heavy hitting cosponsors representing a wide geographical base.  There’s 10 so far:

Senator John Thune (R-SD)

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)

Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Senator John Hoeven (R-ND)

Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)

Senator Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY)

Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM)

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY)

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)

R-CALF USA is working with a broad-based national coalition of consumer groups, manufacturing groups, labor groups, farm and ranch groups, and others to enact S.2716 as quickly as possible.

We’re joining in a national call-in week, January 24-28, to generate as many calls as possible to as many Senators as possible to urge them to join as a cosponsor to S. 2716.  The more cosponsors we have, the more certain our prospects for swift enactment.

Action:  Beginning Monday, January 24 and continuing through Friday, January 28, please call both the Senators in your state and tell them you want them to cosponsor the American Beef Labeling Act of 2021 (S.2716) that will reinstate MCOOL for beef.

Very important:  If one or both of your state’s Senators are already cosponsors (see the list above), please call them as well and thank them for supporting America’s cattle farmers and ranchers and America’s consumers by supporting S.2716.

You can reach your Senators at their Washington, D.C. offices by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for them by name. But remember to also look in your phone book for their in-state office numbers and call their local offices as well. The goal is to get a flood of calls both in-state and in Washington, D.C. so they know there is widespread support for MCOOL for beef!

Please go to our MCOOL website at www.labelourbeef.com to get more information about S.2716. There you will find talking points, a suggested script for calling your Senators, and much more.

THANK YOU for all you’ve done to bring us this close. Let’s win MCOOL for beef for America! And let’s do it quick!

We’ll be in touch.

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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516 for more information.