ACTION NEEDED!!!

HR2749 was defeated yesterday in the house. It did not get the 2/3rds majority it needed to pass.

Today they are bringing it up again and this time it only needs a simple majority!

• "The small-producer lobby was less successful; the $500 per-facility fee remained in the version voted on Wednsday. In a Wednesday press release, Ferd Hoefner, policy director of the widely respected National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, said that some small-producer concerns had been taken care of in the version voted on Wednesday. In particular, farms that sell directly to consumers would have access to “limited exemptions from traceability and registration requirements” that would be onerous.
  But the legislation would stiill place double bookkeeping and traceability requirements on organic growers, who already follow similar procedures from the USDA’s National Organic Program. And even as it gives factory-scale livestock farms a free pass, the bill comes down hard on the wildlife that might—gasp!—trespass on farms. “The bill contains language that experience shows can do serious harm to wildlife and biodiversity, while failing to specify the positive role that conservation practices can play to address food safety concerns,” Hoefner says.
  All in all, Hoefner finds the bill wanting. “This bill ultimately had great potential to economically harm family farms as a result of overreaching provisions that do nothing to advance the important cause of food safety,” Hoefner declared."

It is probably way to late to do anything but try to call your represeantivies. If they feel a need to pass it at a minimum we should attempt to get it passed with the inclusion of the Kaptur-Farr amendment which would adress many of the issues. Read it Here and use it as speaking points when you call your congress people, whose numbers you can find here.

There is no time to waste...