Steve King (R-IA) has reintroduced his Protect Interstate Commerce Act (PICA) which he tried to get into the Farm Bill last year. The bill would stop states from interfering with production and distribution of agricultural products in interstate or foreign commerce.
In other words, individual states would not have the ability to control the types of foods sold in their states. If a state has specific standards for a food, and a company wants to sell that food without those standards in that state, the company would be allowed to do so.
In addition, many consumer and animal advocates and food safety groups do not like this bill. The bill would preempt state and local laws that prohibit puppy mills, animal fighting, and the sale of meats from dogs, cats, and horses. And the bill would stop any state from putting higher standards on food produced or manufactured in another state. Some states could be kept from implementing stronger food safety standards, which would weaken food safety standards in every state.
The Humane Society of the United States opposes the bill. A fact sheet put out by that organization says of King’s bill: “if any one state in the union tolerates the production or sale of a particular agricultural product, no matter how offensive or threatening to the public interest, then the other 49 must do so as well.”
Wayne Pacelle, the President and CEO of the Humane Society told Time magazine “It’s one of the most destructive and far-reaching anti-animal welfare provisions we’ve seen in decades.” And Nancy Perry, Senior Vice President of the ASPCA‘s Government Regulations department said of the amendment in 2013, “this is a federal law that seriously inhibits a state’s ability to protect animals.”
Mistreatment of animals can increase the number and type of pathogenic bacteria they carry, and can eventually threaten human health. A working paper by Duke University in 2013 found that infectious diseases flourish in crowded and inhumane conditions on factory farms. Those animals are given antibiotics in sub-therapeutic doses, which increases the risk of the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can sicken people.
Pure evil.
I agree. This man seems to revel in brutality of any kind, but dictating what other states can do from his lofty l’il perch is off the hook. It chills me to the bone whenever his name comes up; he is just…nasty.