Today's meeting with Senator Cornyn's staff

[Hypnotic Exotic]

I met with a member of Senator Cornyn's (Republican from Texas) staff today on S373. He stated that at first glance it seemed pretty straight forward. However, after receiving my information, he had a much greater understanding of the bill and thinks the senator is likely to oppose. It is vitally important that you set up a meeting. It only took 30 minutes and the interaction was invaluable. Here are a couple key points that might help those of you who have not met yet:

1) The Department of Commerce's opposition is key. The fact that they are opposing reiterates the negative impact on small businesses which Senator Cornyn strongly opposes. This point more than any other drove the point home.

2) The USGS report did not undergo a peer review and is not a "white paper" but instead relied on external sources. The person I spoke with as well as myself are college grads so I compared it to a thorough graduate level paper, hardly something that you would use as justification for a bill of this magnitude and he definitely got what I was saying.

3) He wanted to know what an acceptable compromise would be. I referenced the House bill which was narrowed down to Burms and Afrocks and that we would like this one narrowed as well which the Department of Commerce supports. But I stated that we would only support an importation ban, we do not support any restriction on interstate commerce. Before I get raked over the coals for not stating that we don't want to compromise and only want the bill killed outright, if you really think nothing is going to pass with a Democrat majority, you're kidding yourself. If the worst we get is an importation ban on one or two snakes, I would call that a victory. I also stated that any inclusion of the boa constrictor is completely unacceptable. This snake makes up a huge part of the pet trade and the industry could not recover from a ban on them. I also pointed out that they already inhabit Mexico and could invade on their own and that has not happened.

4) I pointed out all the facets of the industry that would be affected. He had no idea that it would affect companies such as UPS, Fedex and Delta. Don't take it for granted that they know this.

Lastly, when you meet with them, dress as professionally as possible. If you have a suit, wear it. That's what they are used to and they will take you much more seriously. Do not by any means show up in shorts and a t-shirt and expect a staff member of the U.S. Government to take you serious. If you have not set up a meeting, do it today. This was a very pleasant interaction and he seemed to genuinely appreciated getting educated on this bill so they know how to respond appropriately.