[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1845-E1846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF NAIS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2006

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I recently become a cosponsor of H.R. 6042, 
offered by my colleague Mrs. Emerson. This bill prohibits the federal 
government from implementing the National Animal Identification System 
(NAIS). It also provides some privacy protections for framers and 
ranchers who choose to participate in a voluntary identification 
system. I hope all of my colleagues join me in supporting this bill.
  NAIS is a proposal to force all farmers and ranchers to ``tag'' their 
livestock with a radio frequency identification device tag (RFID) or a 
similar item so information on the animals' locations can be stored in 
a federal database. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
is currently implementing the program through state premise 
registration plans. Participation in the NAIS is currently voluntary, 
but my office has been informed that the USDA will likely make NAIS 
mandatory by 2009.
  Small, family farmers and ranchers will be forced to spend thousands 
of dollars, as well as comply with new paperwork and monitoring 
regulations, to implement and operate NAIS. These farmers and ranchers 
will be paying for a massive assault on their property and privacy 
rights as NAIS forces farmers and ranchers to provide detailed 
information about their private property to the government. In 
addition, the NAIS system empowers the Federal government to enter and 
seize property from farmers and ranchers without a warrant. Mr. 
Speaker, this is a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment-protected 
right to be free of arbitrary searches and seizures.
  NAIS is unnecessary since most states already have identification 
systems to identify and track animals and virtually all stockyards 
issue a health certification for each animal that is sold. Furthermore, 
the NAIS ``trace back'' procedures only begin after an incident has 
been reported, which could be days, weeks, or even months after the 
harm has occurred. Since most contamination happens after the animal 
has left the farm or ranch and entered the food chain, tracing animals 
back to the farm will not help identify the source of the problem--
although farmers and ranchers could be held legally liable if any of 
their animals becomes diseased after leaving their possession. 
According to a 1998 Harvard study, preventive measures already in place 
can protect the American people from dangers such as mad cow disease.
  Bell Bellinger, vice-chairman of the Australian Beef Association, 
said of Australia's National Livestock Identification System that 
``Financial costs like the NLIS . . . are seriously eroding our 
competitive advantage supplying an increasing contested world beef 
market.''
  Dairy Farmer and Rancher Bob Parker best stated the case against 
NAIS: ``We currently have the systems in place to track animals, as has 
just happened with the recent `mad cow' in Alabama. Sacrificing our 
freedoms for security is not a good trade off, in my opinion. Our 
Founding Fathers knew the dangers of Government becoming too big. This 
plan is too intrusive, to costly, and will be devastating to

[[Page E1846]]

small farmers and ranchers.'' I urge my colleagues to listen to Mr. 
Parker and protect America's small farmers and ranchers from being 
burdened with a costly, intrusive and unnecessary NAIS program by 
cosponsoring H.R. 6042.

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