The following is a press release from the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association:
USCA (April 12, 2012) - The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) will be in Washington, D.C. the week of April 16th, for its “Springing Into Action, Spring Fly-In 2012”. USCA members representing California, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Virginia will participate in an action-packed schedule of meetings with both Congressional members and Administration officials.
The USCA delegation will focus their lobbying efforts on the 2012 Farm Bill; specifically, provisions that should be included in a 2012 Farm Bill Livestock Title. USCA will urge lawmakers to include several provisions within this title including support for fever tick eradication, modifications to interstate meat inspection along with a comprehensive animal health infrastructure and innovative animal health research programs. In addition, USCA will advocate for the inclusion of the multiple livestock disaster provisions in this title to ensure a safe haven for these integral programs.
The USCA delegation will also advocate for the “Preserving America’s Family Farm Act” (S. 2221) and “The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research” bill (S. 2274); both pieces of legislation aim to benefit the producer and will contribute to the long term viability and profitably of the U.S. cattle industry. The fly-in will also focus on USCA’s continued support for the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) case within the World Trade Organization (WTO). USCA remains actively engaged in this issue and will look to maintain support from both Congress and the Obama Administration within the appeal process.
Fly-in participant and USCA President Jon Wooster commented on the importance of the first fly-in of the year, “USCA members were very active in Washington, D.C. in 2011. This will be the first fly-in of 2012 and we will look to engage on a critical cattle industry issue, the Farm Bill. We will work to ensure the provisions that better the U.S. cattle industry will be written into the 2012 Farm Bill.” Wooster concluded, “These Farm Bill priorities, along with COOL and estate tax reform, are key issues that will play out this year with critical importance to our nation’s cattle industry; we will use this trip to set the foundation for our 2012 priorities and will look to come back on a follow-up trip later into the Congressional session.”
Established in March 2007, USCA is committed to concentrating its efforts in Washington, DC to enhance and expand the cattle industry’s voice on Capitol Hill. USCA has a full-time presence in Washington, giving cattle producers across the country a strong influence on policy development. For more information go to www.uscattlemen.org.
Source: U.S. Cattlemen’s Association
Posted by Haylie Shipp
