Humane Society launches campaign against King amendment
July 31, 2013 | 10:50 AM
The Humane Society of the United States is launching a major campaign involving state and local government groups to urge conferees on the farm bill to remove a provision sponsored by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, that would prohibit states from regulating the sale of farm products from other states due to objections about how they were produced, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said a news conference on Tuesday.
Pacelle said he believed that King included the amendment after California passed an initiative regulating the living conditions of hen-laying eggs and a measure to ban the sale of eggs produced under other circumstances. But he added that the King amendment is not limited to animal welfare and is so sweeping that many state officials and others have become alarmed at its implications.
The King Amendment “threatens 150 state laws,” Pacelle said. “States have a role to play in agriculture. They are not just promoters — they are regulators.”
Pacelle said that the Humane Society remains disappointed that the farm bills do not include a measure that would establish a national standard for the living conditions of egg-laying hens and other animal welfare measures.
Even if Congress removes the King amendment, Pacelle said, an extension in some ways would give the organization a chance to campaign on its measures another year.
Pacelle said he believed that King included the amendment after California passed an initiative regulating the living conditions of hen-laying eggs and a measure to ban the sale of eggs produced under other circumstances. But he added that the King amendment is not limited to animal welfare and is so sweeping that many state officials and others have become alarmed at its implications.
The King Amendment “threatens 150 state laws,” Pacelle said. “States have a role to play in agriculture. They are not just promoters — they are regulators.”
Pacelle said that the Humane Society remains disappointed that the farm bills do not include a measure that would establish a national standard for the living conditions of egg-laying hens and other animal welfare measures.
Even if Congress removes the King amendment, Pacelle said, an extension in some ways would give the organization a chance to campaign on its measures another year.
