Below is a list of the Texas members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.  Every Texan should call all of them!  If you live in their district, be sure to mention that you are a constituent.  Otherwise, simple say that you live in Texas. 

Chet Edwards (D-TX), Phone: 202-225-6105, Fax: 202-225-6105
Counties represented: Hood, Johnson, Somervell, Bosque, Hill, McClennan, Limestone, Roberston, Madison, Brazos, Grimes, Burleson (part)

Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Phone: 202-225-4511, Fax: 202-225-2237
Counties represented: Bexar (part), Medina, Uvalde, Zavala, Dimmit, Edward, Kinney, Maverick, Val Verde, Sutton (part), Crockett, Terrel, Pecos, Reeves, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster, Hudspeth, El Paso (part)

Kay Granger (R-TX), Phone: 202-225-5071, Fax: 202-225-5683
Counties represented: Tarrant (part), Parker, Wise

John Culberson (R-TX), Phone: 202-225-2571, Fax: 202-225-4381
Counties represented: Harris County (part)

John Carter (R-TX), Phone: 202-225-3864, Fax: 202-225-5886
Counties represented: Williamsom, Milam, Bell, Falls, Coryell, Hamilton, Erath

With each person, ask to speak to the staffer who handles appropriations.  If you get their voice mail, leave the following message, or something in your own words that makes the same points:

MESSAGE:  My name is ____.  I am a constituent [or live in Texas, if you aren't in their district].  I am calling because the House Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee has inserted language requiring the School Lunch Program to only buy meat from farms registered in the National Animal Identification System.  I am against NAIS, and I do not want it to be tied to school lunch programs.  NAIS, which tracks live animals, will not improve food safety because most food safety problems start at the slaughterhouse and food processing facilities.  Funding for NAIS, particularly any mandatory NAIS, needs to be stopped.  Please call me back at _____.
 
When you talk to the staffer, be sure to make the same points as in the message, and expand on them with some of the talking points below.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is on the Senate Appropriations Committee.  She represents all of Texas, so every Texan should call her with the same message.  Ask her to make sure the Senate does not follow the House Ag Appropriations Committee's example!

• Phone: 202-224-5922
• Fax: 202-224-0776

Talking Points

In addition to the message above, here are some more talking points about why the NAIS provisions in the Agriculture Appropriations bill should be taken out.  Pick one or two to focus on, and put them in your own words!
 
*  This bill uses the government's power to economically coerce farmers into NAIS. That is not a "voluntary" program.

*  This bill throws good money after bad, supporting a program that is not sound economically or scientifically. 
    *  USDA has presented no science to back up its claims that NAIS will address livestock diseases.
    *  The USDA has never completed a cost/benefit analysis to show that NAIS is worthwhile.
    *  NAIS will not improve food safety.  The massive Hallmark/Westland beef recall this past year was caused by the slaughterhouse employees' failure to follow existing regulations for handling "downer" cows.  Mandating NAIS on cattle producers will not make anybody obey the laws we already have.
    *  NAIS will not help Americans compete in the world market.  If it is mandatory, or even adopted by most producers, those who participate will not get premiums for their meat.

*  Pouring more money into the program is a waste of precious tax dollars that could be better spent on safety inspections at packing and processing plants, where most food contamination occurs.
 
* Using the school lunch program to force farmers into NAIS undermines the growing farm-to-school program, which helps children get fresh, local, and sustainably raised foods.  Local farmers should not be forced into an unpopular program that has nothing to do with food quality or safety in order to provide food for our children.
 
*  The claim that USDA has achieved 33% of its Premises Registration goal is wrong.  USDA computes its percentage of premises registered based on farmers who answer the agriculture census.  Hundreds of thousands of additional horse owners, families with a few chickens, suburbanites with a pet pot-bellied pig, and others like them are technically covered by NAIS, but USDA ignores them when it reports its supposed successes to Congress.  The vast majority of people who will be impacted by NAIS either oppose it or are still unaware of it!
 
* NAIS has never been specifically approved by Congress.  This massive program, which will impact millions of people, should be addressed through full and open debate, not snuck in through appropriations.