US Chamber of Commerce Opposes S373

[USARK.Jonathan.Brady]

WILMINGTON, NC, December 16--In a letter addressed to the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works the US Chamber of Commerce takes a position opposing S. 373 that echoes the position of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers. The bill ostensibly written to address the issue of feral Burmese pythons in the Everglades is overreaching and circumvents the scientific listing process called for by the Lacey Act through the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
USARK believes that Burmese pythons have been sensationalized in the media and S. 373 has become overly politicized. USARK president Andrew Wyatt stated, “I don’t think there is any doubt that the Humane Society of the United States is trying to highjack this bill and use it as a tool to destroy the trade in high quality captive bred reptiles”. The HSUS has a long standing ideological position opposing all reptiles in captivity. They have lobbied extensively to pass as broad a version of S. 373 as possible.
As written, S. 373 would not achieve its stated goal of addressing the problem of feral pythons in the Everglades. It would, however, have a tremendous impact on the trade of captive bred reptiles in the US and abroad including a number of pythons and Boa constrictor. The trade in captive bred reptiles is a $3 billion a year industry and US exports account for 82% of trade worldwide. S. 373 if passed would be devastating. Thousands of jobs would be lost and scores of small family owned businesses would be bankrupted.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region, opposes S. 373. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, “if enacted in its current form, this legislation would adversely impact tens of thousands of businesses”. The Chamber goes on to state that, “If, however, Congress intends to pass a ban to limit the import of the Burmese Python, then it is essential that the proposed ban be drafted as narrowly as possible”.

[mongoose5971]

Finally something from the government that makes sense!

[morti]

Hi!

I am going to post in Every Thread today to make sure everyone knows that we have an e-mail that EVERYONE needs to send As Soon As Possible. Preferably today, no later than tomorrow!

Read here for details:
http://www.redtailboa.net/forums/rep...-required.html

[boaterr]

Wow im stunned!

[mpgt]

Originally Posted by USARK.Jonathan.Brady

WILMINGTON, NC, December 16-- The trade in captive bred reptiles is a $3 billion a year industry and US exports account for 82% of trade worldwide. [/I][/B]

Sounds like the bill would increase worldwide demand for WC snakes. That's just great.

[RRC]

Researching how many members on listed on each forum related to reptiles it seems were not reaching all of them when it comes time to fight these bills, anyone have any ideas or thoughts to what we can do. Most of the other times when our help was needed we only had an X amount of time which wasnt to much.
This time we have to really make a differance more so we need to get all members in on this to stop it in full.

[morti]

The staff of this website is discussing this very issue as we speak.

I am low on original ideas myself.

[noonan768]

I received this letter this morning also.
What a great backer in this battle. Hopefully the fact that "three billion dollars a year" was mentioned.. maybe some of the politicians will perk up and pay attention to what's being said.

[fuglyfarmhand]

Hope it helps

[Icicle]

I'm out of money to make a big billboard for my pick up truck to tell common people who have no clue.

[USARK.Jonathan.Brady]

Originally Posted by mongoose5971

Finally something from the government that makes sense!

Although the title; "US Chamber of Commerce" sounds like a government entity, it's not... unfortunately.

There are local, state, and national Chambers of Commerce. They are essentially a business network that works to further the interests of business in a local, state, and national level. But, they can be a powerful, respected ally in any fight.

[RioBravoReptiles]

I can't find anything about this at the Us Chamber of Commerce.. I'd like to get that direct info and link if I can as it may carry more weight with people not in the reptile hobby or industry than one from a reptile-oriented website.
.
Any help appreciated.

[USARK.Jonathan.Brady]

Hey Gus, thanks for bringing this up. I didn't know it wasn't on the site. I reached out to Andrew and this was his reply:

They haven't made it public yet. We will post the letter on website in next couple of days.

Hope that's helpful!

jb