USARK Testimony to Sub-Committee Hearing 4/23

[rabernet]

This morning at 10AM the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans & Wildlife will hold a hearing on HR 669 Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Act. Although its primary sponsor is Delegate Madeleine Bordallo of Guam, it is a bill written by powerful special interests in order to destroy our industry along with others.

The Reptile Nation has pulled together like never before under the leadership of USARK and has engineered a grass roots campaign of epic proportions. Together we delivered 49,229 letters opposing HR 669 to the Subcommittee. That is a colossal achievement. Together we followed that up with thousands of phone calls that literally jammed up Congressional staff. It is an unprecedented effort that will not go unrewarded. The Reptile Nation cannot be ignored.

It is my belief that this bill will be passed by the Subcommittee and forwarded on to the full House Natural Resources Committee. Do not despair. We have not lost this fight. All of your hard work will pay off. We will beat this bill in the full committee. Do not quit now so very close to Victory. We must refocus our efforts, but if you follow my lead we will prevail. You have proven your mettle as true Warriors, and a hard fought Victory is all the more sweet to savor. Stand by for directions on the next step of our grass roots attack on HR 669!
You can be proud of what you have accomplished. There will be no compromise, no back room deals to give away the farm. The underlying intent of this bill is not the stated intent. It is fundamentally flawed and cannot be fixed. We have fought hard, and will continue to fight for TOTAL VICTORY! Mark my words... this bill will die in committee! It won't be a definitive end, but it won't make it out of committee... as long as we continue to fight hard. Be prepared to make grass roots part of your bottom line and we will be a powerful force to reckon with on any and all issues we engage.

Click here to read USARK Hearing Testimony
http://usark.org/uploads/USARKHR669Testimony.pdf

Thank you for your Dedicated Efforts,

Andrew Wyatt

[waltah!]

I'd like to be more optimistic and think it's going to die today. If not, we will step it up again. I just finished another round of phone calls this morning, and I surprisingly got humans on the other end (on some). I'll be watching the hearing along with many of you with all of my crossables crossed!