14 House Republicans Take Aim at Defeating China-backed Legislation Attacking States Rights, American Family Farmers
Reps. Luna, Valadao, Garbarino, and Mace co-led letter to House Agriculture Committee Leaders Pushing Back on Chairman Glenn Thompson’s China-giveaway
Washington, D.C. — Today, fourteen U.S. House Republicans, led by Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL, Nancy Mace, R-SC, Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, and David Valadao, R-CA, weighed in with staunch opposition to the so-called Save Our Bacon Act, H.R. 4673, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, a new iteration of the EATS Act Competitive Markets Action (CMA) and the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) helped defeat last year, in a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-PA, and Ranking Member, Angie Craig, D-MN.
The SOB/EATS Act is widely viewed as an attack on states’ rights to benefit China’s hold on the American pork industry, as groups like CMA, OCM, Farm Action, the Responsible Meat Coalition, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and Moms for America have conveyed.
Additional signors of the letter led by Luna, Mace, Garbarino, and Valadao, include by Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-FL, Vern Buchanan, R-FL, Byron Donalds, R-FL, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, Carlos Gimenez, R-FL, Tom Kean, R-NJ, Young Kim, R-CA, Michael Lawler, R-NY, Chris Smith, R-NJ, and Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ. Thousands of American, family-owned pork farmers and companies oppose the SOB/EATS Act, which would undercut their investments in housing systems that are more humane and comply with voter-approved state laws in the United States.
The SOB/EATS Act aims to overturn California’s Proposition 12 and Massachusetts’s Question, which require whole pork cuts sold in those states to be sourced from farms where sows are allowed to lie down, stand up, and turn around. As today’s letter notes, a legal challenge to these state laws was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in a strongly worded opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, and joined by fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett.
“As you work to craft policies that will shape the future of American agriculture, we urge you to focus on measures that protect our farmers, respect state sovereignty, and prevent undue foreign influence over our food supply,” wrote Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and her colleagues in the letter. “The success of American agriculture has always depended on striking the right balance between federal and state responsibilities. Congress must uphold this principle as it moves forward.”
“We applaud Rep. Luna for her tremendous leadership and the Members of the chamber closest to the American people who’ve joined the effort to defeat China’s attempt to further consolidate American agriculture by shutting out family farmers,” said Taylor Haynes, president at the Organization for Competitive Markets and founder of the Wyoming Independent Cattlemen’s Association. “American producers are in peril facing a David and Goliath situation, and we must maintain our food safety, sovereignty, and security in these great United States.”
“Our American family farmers and ranchers are fighting for survival against the attack on states’ rights by multinational conglomerates like the Chinese-controlled Smithfield,” said Marty Irby, president at Competitive Markets Action and secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets. “We applaud Rep. Luna and her colleagues for fiercely standing up for states’ rights, consumers, and for the hardworking family farmers who play by the rules and deserve a fair shot in the marketplace.”
The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The foundation of the Organization for Competitive Markets is to fight for competitive markets in agriculture for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. True competition reduces the need for economic regulation. Our mission, and our duty, is to define and advocate the proper role of government in the agricultural economy as a regulator and enforcer of rules necessary for markets that are fair, honest, accessible and competitive for all citizens.
Competitive Markets Action (CMA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit based in Washington, D.C., that was formed with the mission of shaping policy to promote more regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and competitive markets in the U.S., and to defend against attacks on states’ rights by the federal government. CMA works to raise awareness of the harm caused by multinational conglomerates to the American family farmer, the consumer and our U.S. economy as a whole in an effort to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms.