As more and more states take legislative action to prohibit the cruelest forms of factory farm abuse, one notorious congress member is determined to stop this progress at all costs—and today he just got one step closer to his goal.
Steve King (R-IA) represents the nation’s largest egg-producing district, and he’s opposed to even the most basic animal protection laws. In the past, he tried to block federal legislation that would crack down on dog fighting, protect endangered animals, and prohibit the sale of dog and cat meat. Now, not content simply to block federal progress, King is trying to overturn state animal protection laws too.
Last week, the House narrowly approved a controversial farm bill that includes a dangerous amendment that King has been trying to pass for years. The “King Amendment, as it’s known, would prohibit states from setting standards on how agricultural products sold within their borders are manufactured. King says his goal is to overturn popular laws in California and Massachusetts that prohibit the sale of eggs from hens kept in cruel battery cages and foie gras from force-fed birds.
As if that weren’t bad enough, a Harvard Law School report found that the King Amendment could also overturn thousands of other state laws governing things like drugs and pharmaceuticals, food quality and safety, the spread of infectious diseases and invasive pests, fishing regulations, pesticide management, tobacco age restrictions, and much more. That’s why over 180 groups in a diverse coalition, including Mercy For Animals, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, National Farmers Union, Consumers Union, Natural Resources Defense Council, and United Farm Workers, strongly oppose this amendment.
In short, King is willing to sabotage countless important, democratically enacted state laws just so his friends in the egg industry can keep torturing animals.
It’s shameful that King and the factory farm lobby are going to such extreme and dangerous lengths to make sure there aren’t even minimal animal welfare standards at factory farms.
TAKE ACTION NOW
Please make sure this provision does not make it into the final farm bill by calling your lawmakers today. Visit MercyForAnimals.org/King to take action.