House Appropriations Committee give meat packers permission to crush cattlemen
R-CALF USA Statement on House Appropriations Committee’s Passage of Agriculture Appropriation’s Bill
Billings, Mont. – R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement in response to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee’s passage of the FY 2015 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.
"Today the majority of U.S. Representatives on the House Appropriations Committee have demonstrated their loyalty to the multinational meatpackers and their disdain for U.S. farmers and ranchers by passing what amounts to an amnesty bill for packers. The majority not only supported language that insulates meatpackers from any accountability for engaging in abusive buying tactics that force independent producers out of business, but they actually voted to defeat an amendment that would have made it unlawful for meatpackers to retaliate against independent producers for registering a complaint with their member of Congress.
"There is no better indicator of a totally dysfunctional Congress than when members of Congress actually vote to support retaliation against U.S. family farmers and ranchers, which is exactly what the House majority did today in their Appropriations Committee.
"Our only chance of preserving open and fair competition in our U.S. livestock markets is for the U.S. Senate to flatly reject this House passed anti-farmer and anti-rancher language in the Appropriations Conference Committee."
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R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
The best Congress money can buy………