The King Amendment is a part of an attempt to silence animal rights whistleblowers, specifically with a part of the amendment called, “Protect Interstate Commerce Act”, PICA. Part of the Farm Bill, which is one of the largest pieces of annual legislation that the United States Legislature passes every year. Never heard of it? The Farm Bill is what keeps our food cheap, and pays Big Ag millions of tax payers dollars to grow garbage food, or sometimes no food at all.
The King Amendment intends to strip states the right to pass laws that protect animals. Some states, like California, New York, and Florida have specific laws that protects animals from cruel caging practices. If the King Amendment becomes part of the final Farm Bill, the laws that make animals lives slightly more tolerable will be destroyed. Whistleblowers, who inform the public of what animal production really looks like will be silenced, and profits will rule. This is not a fact that Iowa Congressman Steve King hides, “PICA (Protect Interstate Commerce Act, 1 part of the King Amendment) will ensure that radical organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and PETA are prohibited from establishing a patchwork of restrictive state laws aimed at slowly suffocating production agriculture out of existence.”
There is still time to let your Congress persons and Senators know how you feel. HSUS has a handy form letter which makes it so easy to share your voice. If you’d like to get a bit more personable then you can find a list on their site by using your zip code.
As a vegan living in Iowa, I had to sign that letter. It was the least I could do after reading this. Thank you for sharing. I will try and get more proactive in this.