Food Safety and Security

FLINT HILLS, KANSAS — As the U.S. Congress’ July work came to a close leading up the annual August recess, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, declared on RFDTV Saturday, “We’re getting the heck beat out of us,” on the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S/. 2019, led by Marshall and U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa.

For the past two months farmers and ranchers from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), Competitive Markets Action (CMA), and members of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, National Dairy Producers Organization, Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias, and others, have publicly declared their opposition to Marshall’s EATS Act, a measure the groups deem an assault on states’ rights and a gift to Chinese pork conglomerates like Smithfield

Washington, D.C. — As the current Farm Bill expiration date approaches Sept. 30, and Congress continues to stall in advancing a new one, American family farmers and ranchers, who have a direct stake in the outcome, mobilized to Washington D.C. Sept. 17-22 to assert their position on key bills during their second Farm Bill summit in two months.

The groups voiced their strong opposition to the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas. If enacted, the EATS Act would nullify more than a thousand state and local agricultural laws that are in place to protect communities from a myriad of issues such as invasive pests and livestock diseases.

Washington, D.C. — As the U.S. Congress approaches its August recess, farmers and ranchers from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), Competitive Markets Action (CMA), and members of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, National Dairy Producers Organization, Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias, and others, visited Washington, D.C., in attendance at OCM and CMA’s Farm Bill Fly-In and Summit.

In more than 85 in-person meetings on Capitol Hill, farmers and ranchers not only advocated for the rejection of the EATS Act, but also advocated for the enactment of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming (OFF) Act, H.R. 1249/S. 557, led by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rand Paul, R-Ky., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Dina Titus, D-Nev. The measure that would reform and bring transparency to the USDA’s scandal-ridden Commodity Checkoff Programs brought to light by The Daily Caller, Politico, and others.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Last night, 16 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives pushed back against the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, in a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-PA, and Ranking Member David Scott, R-GA, that Competitive Markets Action (CMA) and the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) worked to organize and execute.

Leaders of the EATS Act, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, have positioned the bill as a regulatory solution by reverting to federal overreach. If enacted, the consequences of EATS Act would be dire.

Washington, D.C. — Today, ten U.S. House Representatives, primarily Members of the House Freedom Caucus, weighed in with staunch opposition to the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019 , led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, in a letter to House Agriculture Committee leaders. Fox News broke the story here on the letter that the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and Competitive Markets Action (CMA) advocated for.

EATS Act is widely viewed as an attack on states’ rights to benefit China’s hold on the American pork industry, as groups like the Organization for Competitive Markets, Competitive Markets Action, FreedomWorks, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and Moms for America have conveyed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 150 Members of the U.S. House joined today in sending a letter to U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Pa., and Ranking Member David Scott, R-Ga., citing their opposition to the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas in the Senate.

Two of the leading groups that lobbied the Members of Congress to join the letter include the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), Competitive Markets Action (CMA), as well as members of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, National Dairy Producers Organization, Contract Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias, and others. In June, OCM and CMA launched a public campaign against EATS, a measure the groups deem an assault on states’ rights and a gift to Chinese pork conglomerates like Smithfield.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a bipartisan  group of 30 U.S. Senators sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark., expressing their opposition to the so-called Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, S.2019/H.R.4417, and its inclusion in the 2023 Farm Bill. The controversial EATS Act, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, would harm small farmers, threaten state laws, and infringe on states’ rights to establish laws and regulations within their own borders. To date, the EATS Act has dismal support in both Chambers with only 31 cosponsors in the U.S. House and 13 cosponsors in the Senate.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A coalition of Attorney Generals, representing 16 states, have submitted a letter to House leaders, Speaker McCarthy, R-CA, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, and Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Mitch McConnel (R-KY), stating their firm opposition to the so-called Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R.4417/S.2019, a proposed federal bill that would undermine the rights of States to regulate agriculture within their jurisdictions and would nullify countless state and local laws.

Leaders of the EATS Act, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, have positioned the bill as a regulatory solution by reverting to federal overreach. If enacted, the consequences of EATS Act would be dire. The bill would invalidate hundreds of state and local agriculture laws that support family beef, dairy, egg, and pork producers, as well as hundreds of laws related to food safety and invasive pest control.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Competitive Markets Action, the Organization for Competitive Markets, and the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association applauded Governors from across the United States for urging Congress to prioritize the reauthorization of the Farm Bill. The co-chairs of the National Governors Association (NGA) Education, Workforce and Community Investment Task Force – Govs. Brad Little, R-ID, and Albert Bryan, D-USVI, have just sent a letter to Congressional leaders, urging them to consider key Farm Bill priorities for the next reauthorization of the bill.

The Governors emphasized the importance of avoiding preempting state level laws regarding agriculture production, writing that “states succeed when the federal government avoids granting a private right of action against states that maintain their own production or manufacturing standard on agricultural products.”

WASHINGTON DC – In a sweeping show of solidarity, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), National Association of Counties (NACo), and the National League of Cities (NLC) have jointly written a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committees, stating their firm opposition to the federal bill, the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R.4417/S.2019).

Citing the 10th Amendment, the cornerstone of constitutional federalism, the three organizations emphasized that the EATS act threatens state and local governments, who have the authority to enact laws that protect residents from a myriad of issues, such as invasive pests and livestock diseases.