A message from Dave and Tracy Barker

Shells-N-Scales · 01-11-2010, 09:41 PM

I recieved this email from Texasreptiles.com

Thought I would post it up, incase you don't recieve they're updates.

A message from Dave and Tracy Barker

Dear Fellow Texans,
Last week Tracy and I met with a member of the staff of Senator Hutchison. He was very interested to hear about Senate Bill S373, the so-called anti-python bill (actually, pythons, anacondas and boas). We gave him a lot of printed information and he listened to what we had to say for over an hour. I feel that he will well represent our interests to the Senator.However, he gave us this good advice. Politics is a numbers game. Our representatives only know what we tell them, and right now we Texans have not told the local offices of Senator Hutchison anything. We were told that we are the first and only people to talk with any of our Senator’s local offices on the matter of S373. If that is so, it seems likely that not many have contacted Senator Cornyn’s office, either. It may be that a lot of you have called the Washington DC office, that’s good. Hopefully all of you are contributing to the USARK letter-writing campaign. Based on letters we have seen from Senator Cornyn’s office, he has taken a position to oppose S373. Senator Hutchison has not yet taken a position on S373. It is particularly important to call her offices and let her know that we Texans, her constituents, do not favor S373.So we all need to pick up the phone and make a quick call to the closest local office of each of our Senators. Please tell the staff who answers the phone that you oppose S373 and you want the Senator to oppose this ill-advised, Democrat-sponsored bill. If you have a business, if you breed snakes, If you are a vendor or a participant at reptile shows, if you have made an investment in snakes, you need to stress that this bill will hurt Texans and hurt the Texas economy. Even if you just like these animals, and you feel that Americans should have the right to possess animals, then you oppose S373 and you need to let your Senators know. The point that Tracy and I feel is most important is that S373 is an inappropriate national law for what is a local problem in a small area of South Florida. Any monies generated by S373 will go only to Florida, Texas will not benefit in any way and Texans who choose to keep and breed snakes will be damaged. And please realize that as soon as S373 is voted on in the Senate, then we all face another bill, S669. This law will ban almost all herps from American homes. If passed, even in a modified form, you can bet that most exotic snakes and ALL VENOMOUS SNAKES will be banned. Even if you personally don’t keep pythons, anacondas or boas, realize that if we all don’t beat S373 now, we will probably not beat S669. Please call and tell your Senators what you think is bad about S373 and ask them to oppose it. The phone numbers for those offices are listed below. A call takes only a few minutes.

One more thing, please send letters to the USARK campaign, and that means two letters from you, and also letters that you print out that are signed by your mom, your dad, your co-workers, your friends, members of your PTA, your nature center—anybody and everybody you can think of. Go to http://www.kill-s373.com/ for instructions and sample letters. We have to get them in the mail this week. We need a lot of letters! Don’t fail.

Thanks
Dave and Tracy

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
LOCAL OFFICES
Austin, Texas
512-916-5834

Dallas, Texas
214-361-3500

Houston, Texas
713-653-3456

San Antonio, Texas
210-340-2885

Abilene, Texas
325-676-2839

Harlingen, Texas
956-425-2253
Senator John Cornyn
LOCAL OFFICES
Dallas, Texas
972-239-1310
San Antonio, Texas
210-224-7485

Tyler, Texas
903-593-0902

Austin, Texas
512-469-6034

Lubbock, Texas
806-472-7533

Harlingen, Texas
956-423-0162

Houston, Texas
713-572-3337

txherp · 01-13-2010, 09:57 AM

I got it too, we really need to write some letters.

jason79 · 01-16-2010, 12:09 AM

This is the response I got from senator .JOHN CORNYN

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harwell:

Thank you for contacting me regarding legislation to regulate the importation of certain exotic or non-native animal species. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this matter.

As you know, several measures that would regulate the importation of exotic wildlife are currently under consideration. The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (H.R. 669) would direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the risk of a nonnative species before approving it for importation—a measure aimed at curtailing the invasion of local ecosystems by foreign species with no natural predators. Similarly, Senate Bill 373 (S. 373) would designate python snakes as an “injurious species” under the United States Code, thereby banning the species from being shipped or imported into the U.S.

I understand the importance of protecting our environment and population against the incursion of invasive species; however, I am concerned that these measures may not provide the flexibility required for Texas’ legitimate wild and exotic animal enterprises such as the pet industry, zoos, game ranches, and wildlife conservation activities. Historically, state laws and local ordinances have been established to regulate pet and wildlife ownership, and I believe that governance over this matter should be reserved for state and local entities.

I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate, and you may be certain that I will keep your thoughts in mind should the Senate consider these or other relevant pieces of legislation during the 111th Congress. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator

517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov

Please sign up for my monthly newsletter at http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/newsletter.

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to the nature of electronic communication, if you did not receive this e-mail directly from my office, I cannot guarantee that the text has not been altered. If you have questions about the validity of this message, or would like to respond to this message, please use the web form available at my website, http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact.

Jlassiter · 01-20-2010, 06:06 PM

I got the exact same letter.....
Even though it is a FORM letter it looks like Senator Cornyn is against the Federal Bill and thinks we as a state can take care of our own matters.....

01-11-2010, 09:41 PM	#1
Shells-N-Scales Addicted Adult Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: From Brownsville Tx, Now living in Harlingen TX Gender: Posts: 1,927	A message from Dave and Tracy Barker I recieved this email from Texasreptiles.com Thought I would post it up, incase you don't recieve they're updates. A message from Dave and Tracy Barker Dear Fellow Texans, Last week Tracy and I met with a member of the staff of Senator Hutchison. He was very interested to hear about Senate Bill S373, the so-called anti-python bill (actually, pythons, anacondas and boas). We gave him a lot of printed information and he listened to what we had to say for over an hour. I feel that he will well represent our interests to the Senator.However, he gave us this good advice. Politics is a numbers game. Our representatives only know what we tell them, and right now we Texans have not told the local offices of Senator Hutchison anything. We were told that we are the first and only people to talk with any of our Senator’s local offices on the matter of S373. If that is so, it seems likely that not many have contacted Senator Cornyn’s office, either. It may be that a lot of you have called the Washington DC office, that’s good. Hopefully all of you are contributing to the USARK letter-writing campaign. Based on letters we have seen from Senator Cornyn’s office, he has taken a position to oppose S373. Senator Hutchison has not yet taken a position on S373. It is particularly important to call her offices and let her know that we Texans, her constituents, do not favor S373.So we all need to pick up the phone and make a quick call to the closest local office of each of our Senators. Please tell the staff who answers the phone that you oppose S373 and you want the Senator to oppose this ill-advised, Democrat-sponsored bill. If you have a business, if you breed snakes, If you are a vendor or a participant at reptile shows, if you have made an investment in snakes, you need to stress that this bill will hurt Texans and hurt the Texas economy. Even if you just like these animals, and you feel that Americans should have the right to possess animals, then you oppose S373 and you need to let your Senators know. The point that Tracy and I feel is most important is that S373 is an inappropriate national law for what is a local problem in a small area of South Florida. Any monies generated by S373 will go only to Florida, Texas will not benefit in any way and Texans who choose to keep and breed snakes will be damaged. And please realize that as soon as S373 is voted on in the Senate, then we all face another bill, S669. This law will ban almost all herps from American homes. If passed, even in a modified form, you can bet that most exotic snakes and ALL VENOMOUS SNAKES will be banned. Even if you personally don’t keep pythons, anacondas or boas, realize that if we all don’t beat S373 now, we will probably not beat S669. Please call and tell your Senators what you think is bad about S373 and ask them to oppose it. The phone numbers for those offices are listed below. A call takes only a few minutes. One more thing, please send letters to the USARK campaign, and that means two letters from you, and also letters that you print out that are signed by your mom, your dad, your co-workers, your friends, members of your PTA, your nature center—anybody and everybody you can think of. Go to http://www.kill-s373.com/ for instructions and sample letters. We have to get them in the mail this week. We need a lot of letters! Don’t fail. Thanks Dave and Tracy Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison LOCAL OFFICES Austin, Texas 512-916-5834 Dallas, Texas 214-361-3500 Houston, Texas 713-653-3456 San Antonio, Texas 210-340-2885 Abilene, Texas 325-676-2839 Harlingen, Texas 956-425-2253 Senator John Cornyn LOCAL OFFICES Dallas, Texas 972-239-1310 San Antonio, Texas 210-224-7485 Tyler, Texas 903-593-0902 Austin, Texas 512-469-6034 Lubbock, Texas 806-472-7533 Harlingen, Texas 956-423-0162 Houston, Texas 713-572-3337 __________________ http://www.facebook.com/shells.n.scales

01-16-2010, 12:09 AM	#3
jason79 Sub Adult Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Magnolia TX Gender: Posts: 79	This is the response I got from senator .JOHN CORNYN Dear Mr. and Mrs. Harwell: Thank you for contacting me regarding legislation to regulate the importation of certain exotic or non-native animal species. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this matter. As you know, several measures that would regulate the importation of exotic wildlife are currently under consideration. The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (H.R. 669) would direct the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate the risk of a nonnative species before approving it for importation—a measure aimed at curtailing the invasion of local ecosystems by foreign species with no natural predators. Similarly, Senate Bill 373 (S. 373) would designate python snakes as an “injurious species” under the United States Code, thereby banning the species from being shipped or imported into the U.S. I understand the importance of protecting our environment and population against the incursion of invasive species; however, I am concerned that these measures may not provide the flexibility required for Texas’ legitimate wild and exotic animal enterprises such as the pet industry, zoos, game ranches, and wildlife conservation activities. Historically, state laws and local ordinances have been established to regulate pet and wildlife ownership, and I believe that governance over this matter should be reserved for state and local entities. I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate, and you may be certain that I will keep your thoughts in mind should the Senate consider these or other relevant pieces of legislation during the 111th Congress. Thank you for taking the time to contact me. Sincerely, JOHN CORNYN United States Senator 517 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Tel: (202) 224-2934 Fax: (202) 228-2856 http://www.cornyn.senate.gov Please sign up for my monthly newsletter at http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/newsletter. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the nature of electronic communication, if you did not receive this e-mail directly from my office, I cannot guarantee that the text has not been altered. If you have questions about the validity of this message, or would like to respond to this message, please use the web form available at my website, http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact. __________________ 1.1 Albino ~ 0.4 Het Albino ~ 1.1 Pastel Het Ghost 0.2 Pastel ~ 0.2 Spider ~ 1.1 Fire ~ 0.3 Normal

01-20-2010, 06:06 PM	#4
Jlassiter Addicted Adult Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Corpus Christi, TX Gender: Posts: 3,642	I got the exact same letter..... Even though it is a FORM letter it looks like Senator Cornyn is against the Federal Bill and thinks we as a state can take care of our own matters..... __________________ John Lassiter http://www.CoastalBendCaptiveBreeding.com Poor planning & procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!

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01-13-2010, 09:57 AM	#2
txherp Addicted Adult Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Houston Gender: Posts: 513	I got it too, we really need to write some letters.