Dear Senator Harkin,

I am writing you about the farm bill. I am not in favor of linking Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) with the National Animal Identifiaction System (NAIS). COOL is a valuable program for our U.S. producers, but it doesn’t require the overhead and expense of NAIS. In fact, COOL is more a requirement for imported products.

I am also against manditory NAIS from both a practical standpoint and my personal beliefs. NAIS puts a burden in both time and money on the small producer. It is something that large corporations could make work, but most farm operations are short on both time and money. NAIS should not be funded by taxpayer dollars either. If it has real value, it should be voluntary and funded with private dollars to let the marketplace decide.

My personal beliefs are Christian. I have a conviction not to take the Mark of the Beast spoken of in the book of Revelation. While NAIS is not the Mark, it is a step in that direction. It would prohibit anyone who doesn’t participate from being able to buy or sell without it. It is also an unecessary intrusion into my privacy and that of others. We have that right to personal liberty in our great nation.

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry you are in a position of great influence over farm policy and how it impacts our freedoms. I am an independent Iowa voter. My family has three registered voters in the household. We discuss issues that effect our country (and the state of Iowa) and vote accordingly. I ask that you work to ensure that NAIS remains voluntary, so that farmers like myself can decline participation, and so the free market can determine its value.