STATE CONVENTION

This past weekend the NC State Grange held our annual State Convention in Fayetteville. It's one of those events that every Granger looks forward to and this year was no different! A large portion of our convention is spent discussing resolutions which, if approved, become legislative policy. We discuss these resolutions within 4 committees - Agriculture & Environment, Health Education & Welfare, Legislative & Taxation, Grange Law & Programs. Each of these committees spends time reading through resolutions and debating the issues. When the committees finish their work, their resolutions are brought to the session floor and delegates are able to discuss and vote on the resolutions. Two delegates represent each Grange. When the voting is finished - the NC State Grange has lots of new legislative policy! Our Grange members put in some serious hard work this weekend...

and now my hard work begins! I am now working on putting the 2010 Legislative Policy Book together.. which will be full of new policy. I send a copy of this book to each President & Legislative Director. However, if you would like a copy of the book please let me know and I will be happy to send you one. Aside from putting this book together, it is my job to take your concerns to Raleigh. I will do my best to work on your behalf when I visit members of the General Assembly. I hope that I can represent you in the best way possible.

Thanks for all of your hard work this weekend & I look forward to seeing you all soon!

California's Manmade Drought

In case some of you haven't seen or heard about this issue, the water has been turned off in the Central Valley of California because the Delta Smelt (a minnow) gets caught in the pump and environmentalists hope to help save the fish. However, this area of California is full of fertile farmland that has become a desert filled with dead crops. Many have lost their jobs - in one area the unemployment rate has reached 40%. Take about 5 minutes to watch this video which aired in May on "Hannity". The video was taken from Rep. Devin Nunes' Youtube page. In describing the issues in this video, he begins with this statement: "Let me be honest: When I get hungry, I walk into the kitchen, wash an apple, slice it and slap some peanut butter on it. Or sometimes I grab a can of almonds, pour a few in my hand and enjoy a little healthy snack. But, never do I think about where the foods are grown or how much work went into growing them." Many Americans think that food comes from the grocery store and are completely blind to what actually goes into growing a crop.

Cass Sunstein Confirmed

Source: Foxnews.com

The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm President Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar," overcoming months of delay due to Republican concerns that he would push a radical animal rights agenda.

Senators voted 57-40 to approve Harvard professor Cass Sunstein as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Budget and Management.

As regulatory czar, Sunstein will review and provide guidance for draft federal regulations at different federal agencies. It is a wide-ranging and largely unrestrained position in the executive branch.

That's a large part of the reason Sunstein's positions on animal rights have become worrisome to his critics. Despite his assurances to the contrary, Sunstein has spoken stridently in favor of allowing people the right to bring suit on behalf of animals in animal cruelty cases and to restrict what he calls the more horrific practices associated with industrial breeding and processing of animals for food.

Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia had placed a "hold" on his nomination to prevent a vote from coming to the floor. Chambliss lifted his hold in July because he said Sunstein had convinced him that he wouldn't impose new restrictions on agriculture or hunting.

SENATOR BURR VOTED NO

SENATOR HAGAN VOTED YES

Cass Sunstein

Yesterday, the Senate invoked cloture on debate on the confirmation of Cass Sunstein to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The NC State Grange opposes his confirmation and has contacted both Senator Hagan and Senator Burr. His views on animal rights are far too extreme and we don't believe he will protect producers from regulation of animal agriculture. We believe his influence within the White House could lead to the decline or elimination of animal agriculture. I believe Cass Sunstein's own words can explain why we oppose his confirmation:

"We should focus attention not only on the 'enforcement gap' but on the areas where current law offers little or no protection. In sort, the law should impose further regulation on hunting, scientific experiments, entertainment, and (above all) farming to ensure against unnecessary animal suffering."

"Less modestly, anticruelty laws should be extended to areas that are now exempt from them, including scientific experiments and farming."

"There should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, in scientific experiments, and in agriculture. It also suggests that there is a strong argument, in princple, for bans on many current uses of animals."

"It seems possible, however, that before long, Congress will grant standing to animals to protect their own rights and interests. ... Indeed, I believe that in some circumstances, Congress should do just that, to provide a supplement to limited public enforcement efforts."

"Representatives of animals should be able to bring private suits to ensure that anticruelty and related laws are actually enforced. If, for example, a farm is treating horses cruelly and in violation of legal requirements, a suit could be brought, on behalf of those animals, to bring about compliance with the law."

Farms should be more heavily regulated? Animals should sue their owners?

Senator Burr will be voting against his confirmation. I cannot reach Senator Hagan's office, but have left word with her Raleigh office that if she votes for the confirmation, I would like to be contacted with a reason why.

UPDATE: I was able to reach Senator Hagan's office. The assistant I spoke with said that she was satisfied with Sunstein's nomination and voted for cloture last night. When asked if she was satisfied with his views on animals as they pertain to agriculture, he stated that his writings do not necessarily reflect what he will actually do or have the ability to do. Our concerns with his views were noted and will be passed along to the Senator. If she votes for the confirmation, a response as to why she could support an individual who would have the influence to harm our state's number one industry was requested.