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Courtesy of NAA:

The House of Representatives and US Senate have started their April 11^th to April 22^nd recess. Please call your Senator’s and Representative’s office closest to your farm and voice your opposition to COMPETES Act, Section 71102, Lacey Act Amendments.

You can find your Senator and their locals offices here and your Representative and her or his local offices here.

1. Prior to calling
   1. Plan exactly what you want to say before you call – Message short and simple — tell them you are also sending written materials.
   2. Never assume the Senator, Representative or their staff understands or knows about this specific issue.
   3. Best to prepare written comments or notes to make sure you get key points mentioned.
   4. Be short, clear, polite and to the point.

1. When you call
   1. Ask to speak with the staff assistant handling this issue — S1260 USICA and HR 4521 COMPETES Act Reconciliation.
   2. Make sure to state if you are constituent.
   3. End by asking that the Senator or Representative to not support inclusion of any amendments to Lacey Act without appropriate Committee hearings to evaluate the pros and cons of amending long standing provisions of the Lacey Act’s addressing injurious wildlife issues.
   4. Always be courteous, polite and do not vent.

1. Follow up
   1. Mail or send letter via email – letters have the most impact. Ask for an email address to attach letter or ask for FAX information. If you can only send an email, then format it so it looks like a letter.
   2. Keep you written comments targeted on one or two pages at most.
   3. Always keep in mind that the person you are communicating with very unlikely to be well-versed on the issue(s) and is overloaded and has limited time – so make sure they understand importance of letting the Senator or Representative know that your issue is extremely important.

Not sure what to say or write? Here are suggestions:

The goals of COMPETES Act, Section 71102, Lacey Act Amendments, are currently achieved through existing authorities provided by the Act:

• Tribes and states regulate or restrict nonnative species. Under the Lacey Act it is unlawful to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife or plants that are taken, possessed, transported, or sold: 1) in violation of federal, state or tribal law, or 2) in interstate or foreign commerce involving any fish, wildlife, or plants taken possessed or sold in violation of State or foreign law.
• For 120 years the Lacey Act has provided the Secretary of Agriculture, and now the Secretary of Interior, with the power to ban importation of animals “injurious to human beings, to the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the United States.” Recent analysis points to this successful use of import prohibitions.

Section 71102 contains three provisions.

Section 71102(a) Regulating Interstate Trade
We oppose the Section 71102 for empowering the Secretary of Interior (Secretary) to prohibit the interstate movement of nonnative or native animals within the continental United States. This provision does not provide any flexibility to the Secretary to allow interstate trade of species in regions of the country where these animals pose little to no risk. The proposed federal prohibition in Section 71102 is a blanket prohibition nationwide.

Section 71102(a) Emergency Rule
We oppose Section 71102 for empowering the Secretary to list a species under emergency rule for a three-year period without due process involving advance notice, opportunity to comment, public hearings, etc.

Section 71102(d) Presumptive Prohibition on Importation
We oppose Section 71102 for empowering the Secretary to create, with public comment, an approved list of species for importation. Approved lists, commonly known as “White Lists,” are unusual for the federal government as a regulatory body or signatory or participant to international agreements and organizations predicated on prohibiting or restricting species trade for at-risk animals.

• A White List may be challenged by World Trade Organization members.
• A White List will increase the numbers of individual animal identifications by 28 times the current responsibility of inadequately staffed ports of entry inspection personnel.
• The responsibility placed upon the Secretary’s port and border crossing inspectors to rapidly and accurately distinguish the currently required 785 Lacey Act Injurious Wildlife species, 693 Endangered Species Act listed species, 6,006 CITES listed species and the 204,614 species potentially required by Section 71102 threatens animal care and welfare.

Want to add more? Read this in-depth analysis before you make your calls.