Dear Readers,

The dangerous King amendment is back for consideration as the House and Senate work to merge their versions of the Farm Bill. This amendment is an egregious attack on our right to promote good nutrition and protect our health and safety, and we urgently need your help to get it removed from the bill. Please take a moment to ask your U.S. senators and representative to remove the King amendment from the 2013 Farm Bill.

A poorly disguised move to boost corporate profits, the King amendment puts public health at risk by violating states’ rights to prohibit the sale of products they have found to be harmful to their citizens, including dangerous pesticides, chemicals, and disease-causing agents. Under the shallow guise of commerce protection, this broad, vaguely worded amendment jeopardizes the safety of almost all agricultural goods. The amendment could also wipe out countless state-level environmental laws, including those regulating pollution and the use of toxic animal wastes as fertilizer. By barring states from regulating agricultural production of all products destined for interstate commerce, the King amendment renders states nearly powerless to shelter their citizens from illnesses ranging from food poisoning to cancer.

Laws prohibiting the intensive confinement and cruel treatment of farm animals, as well as regulations on horse slaughter and the sale of dog and cat meat, could also be nullified by provisions in the King amendment. Even tobacco, child labor, and worker safety laws could be erased by this overreaching, radical amendment.

Please take action: Tell your members of Congress to reject the King amendment, a direct threat to public health, consumer safety, and animal welfare. Please call or e-mail their offices today.

After contacting your elected officials, forward this message to your friends.

Thank you for your help. If you have any questions, contact me at ngittell@pcrm.org.

Very truly,

Noah Gittell
Director of Government Affairs