HR669 - a serious issue

Vote no on HR669

What is HR 669?
H.R. 669 stands for House Resolution 669 and is titled "The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act". It is a bill currently before Congress that if passed will change the way that the US Government classifies animal species that are not native to the United States. H.R. 669 will make it illegal to breed and sell many animals that are very common in the pet trade.

Why should you care about HR 669?
Anyone with pet fish, birds, reptiles, or small mammals will be affected by this bill. Any company selling product or services for pet fish, birds, reptiles or small mammals will be affected by this bill. Would you be impacted by "The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act"?

• Virtually all fish in an aquarium are not native to the United States
• Most pet birds are species not native to the US
• Most reptiles kept as pets are not native to the US
• Hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and ferrets are not native to the US

What can you do to stop HR 669?
Pet owners support the concept of a risk based approach to non-native imports, unfortunately H.R. 669 as drafted does not provide a constructive way forward.

You can help by standing up and making your voice heard. Let your Representative know that you oppose H.R. 669 as drafted and the financial and/or emotional effect it will have on you, or your friends, or your family members if it passes. The link below will allow you to send an email to your Representative in Congress and even give you the option to follow up with a phone call.

 

NO HR 669

 

post merged in with current HR 669 thread

Normally political posts of any type are not allowed but this one is fairly on subject and affects the hobby.

 

Tainted water

I sent an email saying no to it . hopefully allot of people did that also.

 

H.R. 669 was heard today in congress.

Liveblogging Congressional hearing on H. R. 669 - PetHobbyist.com Site Blog

this link is to a blog reporting on the hearing basically live. you can follow the hearing.

in its present form this bill would have disasterous effects on are reef hobby. for those who dont understand that, go find me scientific data on emerald crabs and there effect on the US's ecosystem. then go find that data for every single animal in the hobby fish, inverts, corals.

as this information is required for the secretary to legalize a animal.

even LR may be underfire since it contains many hitchhikers.


let me say this once this isnt a political forum, if you make political comments this thread will be shut down and you will hence forth be known as the crazy political guy at 3reef

 

wow this could be NO good!

 

One opinion is just as good as another's. Just like people have opinions on deep sand beds and bare bottom tanks. I'm not fighting the fact that this is or is not a political thread I could care less what anyone classifies it as, but people need to realize that not everyone has the same opinions. Unless this turns into a rc out of control thread with name calling and ignorant comments it shouldn't be closed just because one person has one opinion on a subject like this where opinions are expected, and someone else has another and doesn't like the fact that they have a different opinion. I hope everyone has read everything about this bill and not just the SAY NO TO HR 669 webpages. There are two sides to everything but more importantly there are facts then there are he said she said guessing what something is instead of looking into it. Some quotes from that live blog:

"I recommend that instead of an approved list we encourage the development of a non-approved list. We can remove invasive species without destroying the entire pet industry."

"Asks about procedures right now if he wanted to get a pet tiger. Chimpanzee, gorilla -- do I have to have a permit to have a pet like that?
Dr. Lodge interrupts and says he has examined Lacey Act and says there's nothing in that Act to prevent you or your neighbors from owning a tiger or many other of the millions of organisms in the world. Such restrictions are usually local.
Meyers: Says there is pending legislation in Congress that would restrict private ownership of large cats, non-human primates, but this is mostly at state level, with permits, such as Florida's permit system for venomous reptiles, five large constrictor snakes, including microchipping, but it's not at the federal level. Says some species invasive in Southern Florida but not in Wisconsin.
Agrees there do need to be state or perhaps federal permit systems for some species -- mix of federal and state depending on species."


"Rep Capps:
Concern among pet owners. Yes or no, does this legislation take away pets that people currently own? No.
Will this legislation place every non-native animal on unapproved list? No.
Will this legislation only target those species that are non-native AND invasive? Yes.
Interstate transport of grandfathered animals -- people moving, vet care, etc. Suggestions to address this concern?
Dr. Lodge: We could explore a permitting function. Would require complex procedures to establish ownership, track that. It's not an insignificant process."

I also like how they mentioned snakeheads, man I miss MD lol

 

Just a waste of tax money

IT WILL NEVER PASS!!
.

AND, if it does pass god help this country. It would put us deep in to a depression.

It's just a silly way to waste tax money.

 

Just heard the hearing myself

Well after hearing them talk about it. It's clear it will be shot down if not already. At the end of the hearing i'm under the understanding it need tobe re-written.

Good news for the pet owners/sellers "for now", bad news for tax payers.

I should get karma for calling it!