Source: United States Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss)
HYDE-SMITH JOINS EFFORT TO PREVENT AG TRADE SUPPRESSION
EATS Act Would Prevent One State from Imposing Radical Ag Standards on Other States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today joined U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.) and others in introducing legislation to prohibit states and local governments from interfering with the production or manufacture of agricultural products in other states.
The Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act would protect agricultural producers across the country from acts like California’s Proposition 12, which requires that meat products raised outside California conform to radical animal rights standards adopted under the guise of “public health.”
“Mississippians don’t like the idea of liberal states like California imposing their radical ideas on us or dictating how our farmers and ranchers do their jobs. I’m sure that’s the case from coast to coast,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“This pro-ag, pro-jobs legislation would establish a federal standard that fosters greater interstate commerce among states without interference from activist city or state governments,” she said.
The EATS Act would prevent states from impeding agricultural trade from other states within the United States—consistent with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which provides the federal government with the duty to regulate interstate commerce. State and local units of government would still be able to regulate farming and ranching within their own jurisdictions, however, this legislation makes it illegal to impede trade from fellow states.
More than 20 states challenged California’s Proposition 12, while several other states have adopted or contemplated laws that would affect the agricultural production outside their state.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and John Cornyn (R-Texas) also cosponsored the legislation.
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