Congressman Leach is supposed to be in Fairfield Wed. April
16 12noon-1:30 but is listed for Ottumwa same date and
time.
I recommend calling his office to find out expected time of
arrival in the town of your choosing. He is having town
meetings throughout his district in April. I hope do some
cage rattling myself about some other issues (waffling on
the Iraq issue and his recent vote for the irrational tax
cutting budget in the face of massive federal deficits).
Jim Fleming
--- Jane Clark <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Senators Grassley and Harkin and Rep. Latham have signed
> on as cosponsors of
> the bills to restore the organic standards for feeding
> organic livestock.
>
> Rep. Leach has not signed on as a cosponsor (read Francis
> Thicke's message
> below) of the Farr-Kind bill to Repeal Section 771 of
> Omnibus Appropriations
> bill (H.R. 955) .  If you are in Rep. Leach's district,
> please call that
> office.
>
> Debbie Neustadt has suggested that the staff person to
> talk to is in the
> Cedar Rapids office (that person who handles ag issues
> for Leach works in
> that office.)
>
> Hopefully someone on this list will provide that
> telephone number.
>
> Thanks,
> Jane Clark
>
> From: Francis Thicke <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 9:16 PM
> Subject: Fw: organic restoration bill update
>
> Below, from the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, is
> the latest update
> of the list of cosponsors of Senate and House bills to
> restore the organic
> standards--that is to negate the appropriations bill
> rider that allows
> organic livestock to be fed conventionally grown feed.
>
> You will notice that Congressman Jim Leach's name is
> conspicuously absent
> from the list of cosponsors.  I presume that many of you
> contacted Leach's
> office asking him to cosponsor the bill.  If you did, I
> expect you received
> the same written response I did.  Unfortunately, I do not
> have a scanner and
> cannot include his letter here, but suffice it to say
> that his letter is
> equivocal, to say the least.  He takes no stand on the
> issue.  Instead, he
> reiterates the arguments for and against allowing organic
> livestock to be
> fed conventionally grown feed ("Those in favor of the new
> provision maintain
> that high prices for organic feedstuffs negate the
> profits from premium
> prices charged for organically raised meat, poultry, and
> dairy products, and
> thus deny some producers access to a USDA program that
> would permit them
> entry into lucrative new markets.")  Congressman Leach
> ends his letter with
> "I will keep your views in mind should the House have the
> opportunity to
> consider such a measure."
>
> In other words, he apparently has no plans to cosponsor
> the repeal bill, and
> he is unwilling to even commit himself to voting for the
> repeal.
>
> Is there anyone on this listserve who can rattle Leach's
> cage and wake him
> up?
>
> Francis Thicke
>
> **************************
> The first target as a potential vehicle for moving the
> organic restoration
> bill has been the Fiscal Year 2003 "Wartime" Supplemental
> Appropriations
> bill, which is expected to be debated in the House and
> Senate this week.
>
> Below is the master list of official cosponsors for the
> two bills:
> ===============
> Leahy-Snowe "Organic Restoration Act" (S. 457),
> introduced 2/26/03
>
> Senate Republicans
> Grassley- IA
>
> Senate Democrats
> Harkin- IA
> ===============
> Farr-Kind bill to Repeal Section 771 of Omnibus
> Appropriations bill (H.R.
> 955) (Introduced 2/27/03)
>
> House Republicans
> Latham- IA
>
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