New administration and our hobby. Read Please help

[ocean1]

On April 23rd congress will be voting on the The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (HR 669) This could take away our ability to own saltwater fish and coral and kill our hobby. We have all heard over many years that this could happen. This act could make it happen, and fast.

If you do nothing but skim this and contact your rep that will help. Doing nothing could kill our hobby.

The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act

STOP CONGRESS FROM TAKING

YOUR PETS

Join PIJAC in opposing HR 669



WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

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




This bill would ban nonnative species not specifically approved by US Fish & Wildlife Service. AND, it does NOT
only ban their importation, it also bans sales, transportation and breeding of these animals

• If you own a bird or reptile, and your specialized veterinarian is located across the state line from your
home, you would be prohibited from taking your pet to its veterinarian
• If you own two fish and they have babies, you would be in violation of this law and your pets could be
confiscated and destroyed
• Don’t plan on moving to another state with your pet. Crossing state lines with your hamster, fish, bird,
snake or other nonnative animal will be illegal




ANY animal except dogs, cats and goldfish will need to go through a costly, extensive study to prove they will not
cause harm AND be approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service before they can be pets. The proposed
congressional ban on “nonnative species” will affect hundreds of millions of animals currently kept as pets.



PIJAC supports managing invasive species, but this bill is not the answer. Simply enhancing and improving
existing laws and regulations would meet the goal of preventing/minimizing the introduction of potentially
invasive species.



Under HR669, ANY animal not native to the U.S. would have to be placed on an “Approved” list created by the
Fish and Wildlife Service, which does not have the manpower or financial resources to do it. Nonnative species
includes virtually every bird, reptile, fish, and small mammal commonly kept as pets. Until an animal is placed
on the “Approved” list, you would be banned from adopting, purchasing, selling, transporting across state lines,
or breeding these animals.



WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Pet owners and the pet industry needs to be heard NOW

• Contact members of the subcommittee – both in Washington, DC AND in their district offices. Let them
know you don’t want them to ban your pets
• Attend your representatives Town Hall meeting during the Congressional Spring Break (April 6-17) and
ask them WHY THEY WANT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR PETS
• Alert everyone you know and ask them to stand up and be counted.
• Become a member of PIJAC and help us defeat this bill (www.pijac.org) - 1220 19th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036



House Committee on Natural Resources

Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans & Wildlife

187 Ford House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/226-0200 (Tel.)

202/225-1542 (Fax)



[PLEASE NOTE: In order to contact Representatives via the internet, click on the links below. Because most Representatives
do not have personal email addresses, these links will take you to a “Contact Form” on their personal House of
Representatives web pages. Fill out the Contact Form and submit.]

NOT a complete list. If someone can post a COMPLETE list it would be GREAT



Madeleine Z. Bordallo (Ch)(NP-Guam)

427 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-5301

202/225-1188 (Washington Tel. #)

202/226-0341 (Washington Fax #)

120 Father Duenas Ave., Suite 107

Hagatna, GUAM 96910

671/477-4272 (District Tel. #)

671/477-2587 (District Fax #)

http://www.house.gov/bordallo/IMA/issue.htm



Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)

1502 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-2726 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-4580 (Washington Fax #)

Prince Kuhio Federal Building

300 Ala Moana Blvd. – Room 4-104

Honolulu, HI 96850

808/541-2570 (District Tel. #)

808/533-0133 (District Fax #)

neil.abercrombie@mail.house.gov



Henry Brown (R-SC)

103 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-3176 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-3407 (Washington Fax #)

1800 North Oak Street, Suite C

Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

843/445-6459 (District Tel. #)

843/445-6418 (District Fax #)

5900 Core Avenue, Suite 401

North Charleston, SC 29406

843/747-4175 (District Tel. #)

843/747-4711 (District Fax #)

http://brown.house.gov/Contact/writebrown.html



Lois Capps (D-CA)

1110 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-3601 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-5632 (Washington Fax #)

2675 N. Ventura Road, Suite 105

Port Hueneme, CA 93041

805/985-6807 (District Tel. #)

805/985-6875 (District Fax #)

301 E Carrillo Street, Suite A

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805/730-1710 (District Tel. #)

805/730-9153 (District Fax #)

http://www.house.gov/capps/contact/send_an_email.shtml





William Cassidy (R-LA)

506 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-3901 (District Tel. #)

202/225-7313 (District Fax #)

5555 Hilton Avenue, Suite 100

Baton Rouge, LA 70808

225/929-7711 (District Tel. #)

225/929-7688 (District Fax #)

http://cassidy.house.gov/?sectionid=3&sectiontree=3



Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

1032 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-7751 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-5629 (Washington Fax #)

51 South University Ave., Suite 319

Provo, UT 84601

801/851-2500 (District Tel. #)

801/851-2509 (District Fax #)

https://forms.house.gov/chaffetz/contact-
form.shtml



Donna M. Christensen (NP-Virgin Islands)

1510 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-1790 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-5517 (Washington Fax #)

Nisky Business Center

Second Floor, Suite 207

St. Croix, VIRGIN ISLANDS 00802

340/778-4408 (District Tel. #)

340/778-8033 (District Fax #)

P.O. Box 5980

Sunny Isle Shopping Center, Space 25

St. Croix, VIRGIN ISLANDS 00823

340/778-5900 (District Tel. #)

340/778-5111 (District Fax #)

http://www.house.gov/writerep/



Diana L. DeGette (D-CO)

2335 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-4431 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-5657 (Washington Fax #)

600 Grant Street, Suite 202

Denver, CO 80203

303/844-4988 (District Tel. #)

303/844-4996 (District Fax #)

http://www.house.gov/formdegette/zip_auth.
htm



Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (NP – American Samoa)

2422 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-8577 (Washington Tel. #)

202/225-8757 (Washington Fax #)

P.O. Box, Drawer X




Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

240 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

202/225-2635 (Washington Tel. #)

202/226-4386 (Washington Fax #)

1640 South Stapley, Suite 215

Mesa, AZ 85204

[Techknowledgy]

Um. Did any of the real geeks out there beside me read this thing? It is all about "the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species’ or human health." Maybe read the thing. Especially the part about what is included and excluded, and the process. I am pretty sure they are concerned about things like culerpa and what happened with rabbits in Australia. I am not saying it is a good bill............ but when I think about my reef tank, virtually nothing in it could survive in any west coast waters. If you want to read it...... only 24 pages, it is here.
....sure would be cool if we could get frogspawn to grow in Mission Bay. Imagine how clean and warm it would be!

[sandiegan]

http://www.nohr669.com/

[SolRo]

Oh this crazy thrashing by the exotic pet import lobby again. (read; monitor lizards, boas)

No Bobby, they aren't going to take your hamsters and goldfish away.

[Blaze]

But when we at in the kind of economy we are in now,is slashing jobs because they distribute fish and coral a good thing? How many jobs are going to be kissed good by and for how long?

[SolRo]

But when we at in the kind of economy we are in now,is slashing jobs because they distribute fish and coral a good thing? How many jobs are going to be kissed good by and for how long?

They won't shut down fish stores, geeze.

This is ment as a ban on agressively invasive species.

Unless your xenia starts taking over san diego, ahead of kudzu, there wont be any problems.

[ocean1]

There are many fish mostly fresh that are non native that could be banned. Not to mention reptiles and furry critters. This would almost for sure impact the pet stores, suppliers, importers etc etc..... How far will they go? With the whole green save the earth, global warming, end of days things going on its just a matter of time before they step on our hobby as well. We wanted change we got it, in sooo many ways

[Diver Dan]

How far will they go? With the whole green save the earth, global warming, end of days things going on its just a matter of time before they step on our hobby as well.

I hope they go all the way!
Its JUST a hobby, its not JUST the planet...
Speaking as someone whose going to have to live with what other people have done/are doing to the planet for the next 60 years, i wish they would ban the burning of hydrocarbons.
My name is Trever and I am a radical Im going to look at things with an educated approach and not "Drill baby drill!" And i think thats okie dokie

[warjose]

Don't you guys know that the government knows how to take care of everything better than the private sector. They just have our best interest in mind, they are saving us from ourselves...

[Techknowledgy]

This started a long time ago. There are certain species that ARE a problem. Most are not. It is no slippery slope.
"he whole green save the earth, global warming, end of days things going on its just a matter of time before they step on our hobby as well"

Main Entry: para·noia
Pronunciation: \ˌper-ə-ˈnȯi-ə, ˌpa-rə-\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek, madness, from paranous demented, from para- + nous mind
Date: circa 1811
1 : a psychosis characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations
2 : a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distru****lness of others
— para·noi·ac \-ˈnȯi-ˌak, -ˈnȯi-ik\ also para·noic \-ˈnȯi(-i)k, -ˈnō-ik\ adjective or noun
— para·noi·cal·ly \-ˈnȯi(-i)-k(ə-)lē, -ˈnō-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

They are not after smashing down your door and confiscating your bright green torch. Google invasive species and see if you can find anything that resides in your tank.

[Blaze]

When the man said change he never said "change" was good "change" very vague about it I'd say.and don't give me the whole don't blame the man bit because you all know if G-Dub had this happining durrig his time every one would crusify him. And they would be cutting jobs,maybe not right off the bat but over time how many would be lost?once income slows to a trickle they will cut jobs to try and stay afloat.

[warjose]

I hope they break down my door and confiscate my Aiptasia.

[Techknowledgy]

When the man said change he never said "change" was good "change" very vague about it I'd say.and don't give me the whole don't blame the man bit because you all know if G-Dub had this happining durrig his time every one would crusify him. And they would be cutting jobs,maybe not right off the bat but over time how many would be lost?once income slows to a trickle they will cut jobs to try and stay afloat.

Maybe it is not too late to crucify him? I have a big hammer I would gladly loan the folks who do this. What a mess he left to clean up.

.....income is already at a trickle........... the "crash" started in September, not on January 20th.

[warjose]

The crash started way before September '08. We can't pin any mess on only GW anymore than we can on only BHO. The congress shifted hands from right to left two years ago...

[Diver Dan]

Thre questions:
Which president left with a surplus?
Which president left with a deficit?
Which party do you want getting us out of it?

Back to the banning of species! Ban them all!!! I have enough livestock!