Cruel puppy mills not far off if 2 federal laws pass
Two bills recently introduced in the U. S. House, HR 3599, sponsored by Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, and HR 2887, sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, are an all- out attack on the ability of the states to pass and enforce laws that protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens. The two proposed laws would roll back existing laws in favor of big agriculture and other corporate interests.
HR 3599 is a race to the bottom that would forbid states from passing laws regulating agricultural products and forcing every state to permit the sale of any “agricultural product”— including puppies— if any other state permitted the sale, regardless of how hazardous the product or how cruel the production process. States would not be able to regulate toxic discharge from factory farms, the toxicity of chemicals applied to crops, or even the welfare of dogs being force bred in puppy mills if another state allowed such practices.
Laws recently upheld in Chicago, Cook County and Waukegan prohibiting the sale of puppy mill dogs in pet stores are in danger of being rescinded if this bill passes.
HR 2887 has a similar effect. It would prevent states from taxing or regulating any activity in interstate commerce by any person ( including a corporation) unless that person is physically present in the state for 15 days or more in a calendar year. This means that the first- in- the- nation law just passed in Illinois outlawing traveling elephant acts would be gutted.
Please call Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and your representative. Urge them to strongly oppose these unwarranted attacks on the rights of states to pass laws protecting consumers, the environment, and animals. Christine Pado, Third Lake
Transit fare hikes imposed from above
Every time a fare increase is made in the realm of public transportation, the people making those decisions are the people who are not impacted in the least. The burden of the failure of the political class is always put on the back of the poor. It’s axiomatic in our business- run society that the only people who really count are those who are exploiting the most vulnerable and those who have no voice.