2 bills that would infringe upon ranchers’ freedoms

 Amanda Radke

In Washington, D.C., activists and lobbyists have been busy working hard to infringe upon our personal liberties and freedoms as property owners of land and livestock. What do I mean by this? Well, get a load of some of these recent pieces of legislation that are being considered in Congress. Essentially a land and water grab, Protect the Harvest reports, “The Wildlife Corridor Conservation Act, S. 1499 was introduced to the Senate May 16, 2019. Its sponsors are the usual cast of animal rights characters, many of whom are HSUS ‘award winners,’ Udall, Booker, Harris, Merkley, Wyden, Blumenthal, Sanders, Whitehouse, Tester and Feinstein. “There is a related bill, H.R. 2795, introduced on May 16th, of which a summary is in progress. H.R. 2795 has been referred to the House Committee – Natural Resources, Agriculture; Armed Services; Transportation and Infrastructure. “The summary of the Senate Bill S. 1499 reads as follows, ‘To establish National Wildlife Corridors to provide for the protection and restoration of certain native fish, wildlife, and plant species and for other purposes.’ We have a very important question. What does the bill mean by the statement, ‘for other purposes”? This seems to be left intentionally vague so that it may be manipulated and enforced at will. There is a lot to this bill, and we will just be covering some of the key points. We encourage everyone to read it and to follow the referenced codes to fully understand its implications.” A second cause for concern is the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act. On the surface, the act appears to be preventing the taping of animal abuse for marketing, advertising, distribution or circulation. To me, it reads as a way to prevent animal rights activists from going undercover and purposefully abuse animals with the intention of releasing the footage on social media. This tactic has been used for years to hurt agricultural businesses and line their own coffers through good-hearted donors spurred to action by the abuse they are witnessing online...MORE

S. 1499 Wildlife Corridor Conservation Act by Senator Udall