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Senator voices concerns with USDA forum
Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran is voicing concern with USDA’s plan to conduct an animal welfare scientific forum.
“The ironic thing about this forum is that there is little science involved,” Moran says. “It is nothing more than—in my view—the Department of Agriculture spending taxpayer dollars on a forum to provide the Humane Society of the United States a public forum to espouse its anti-agricultural views.”
Moran cites a USDA memo issued last month that authorizes the department’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to conduct the forum. According to Moran, the memo indicates the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is going to set the agenda for the event—with no mention of involving any agricultural organization or animal scientists in pre-planning activities.
“If the Department of Agriculture was interested in science, why would it allow an animal rights organization to steer its agenda,” Moran asks. “Why wouldn’t APHIS simply request the latest animal research from scientists across the country to make sure that its guidance is up to date?”
Moran says he may have to pursue the issue as part of the conference committee working to finalize the fiscal year 2012 ag appropriations bill.
Moran made his comments in a recent speech on the Senate floor.
AUDIO: Excerpt from Sen. Moran’s Senate floor speech (3:58 MP3)
Any senator who endorses the Humane Society is unaware of their radical agenda and need to be fully informned before they let this nonsense occur. Agriculture is one of the mainstays of this country. The
Ag Dept. needs to be aware of what an idiotic decision this would be.