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Letter to Joseph Biden, President of the United States, Elizabeth Prelogar, Solicitor General, and Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture - In Support of Humane Farming

Letter

By: Kim Schrier, Tom O'Halleran, Jared Huffman, Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna, Zoe Lofgren, Salud Carbajal, Judy Chu, Tony Cárdenas, Pete Aguilar, Jimmy Gomez, Raul Ruiz, Linda Sánchez, Mark Takano, Nanette Barragán, Scott Peters, Jason Crow, Jim Himes, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nikema Williams, Marie Newman, Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky, André Carson, Jim McGovern, Katherine Clark, Stephen Lynch, Anthony Brown, Jamie Raskin, Haley Stevens, David Price, Donald Norcross, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman, Thomas Suozzi, Grace Meng, Adriano Espaillat, Paul Tonko, Earl Blumenauer, Brendan Boyle, Mary Scanlon, Mike Doyle, Jr., Steve Cohen, Sheila Jackson Lee, Lloyd Doggett II, Don Beyer, Jr., Suzan DelBene, Pramila Jayapal, Raul Grijalva, Jerry McNerney, Eric Swalwell, Anna Eshoo, Jimmy Panetta, Julia Brownley, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Ted Lieu, Norma Torres, Karen Bass, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Maxine Waters, Alan Lowenthal, Joe Neguse, Rosa DeLauro, Eleanor Norton, Charlie Crist, Jr., Ted Deutch, Hank Johnson, Jr., Lucy McBath, Mike Quigley, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Brad Schneider, Sharice Davids, Jake Auchincloss, Seth Moulton, Bill Keating, David Trone, Andy Levin, Rashida Tlaib, Annie Kuster, Tom Malinowski, Mikie Sherrill, Dina Titus, Kathleen Rice, Carolyn Maloney, Mondaire Jones, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Madeleine Dean, Susan Wild, Joe Wilson, Sr., Veronica Escobar, Sylvia Garcia, Donald McEachin, Gerry Connolly, Derek Kilmer, Adam Smith, Marilyn Strickland
Date: May 4, 2022
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Judicial Branch Agriculture and Food

Dear President Biden, Solicitor General Prelogar, and Secretary Vilsack:

As you know, on March 28th, the Supreme Court decided to hear National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, the pork industry's challenge to California's Proposition 12. This law is intended to prevent animal cruelty, protect the health and safety of California consumers, and decrease the risk of foodborne illness by phasing out extreme methods of farm animal confinement. California's Proposition 12 regulates only in-state sales of certain pork products at issue in this case (as well as in-state sales of certain egg and veal products) and does not directly control any activity outside the state.

Proposition 12 shares many substantive similarities with cage-free sales laws and regulations in Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, and Massachusetts, which were supported by broad, diverse coalitions of stakeholders. A harmful ruling on this case would undermine all of these state laws and others like them, as well as the significant investments companies have made towards protecting consumer preferences and the health, safety, and welfare of animals and the environment.

Efforts to overturn this popular law are fundamentally inconsistent with long-standing judicial precedent. The Commerce Clause should not be weaponized to shield particular industries from in-state sales regulation, like California's Proposition 12. Nor should states have to create one set of rules for in-state products and a different set of rules for ones from out of state. We request that you support California's regulatory autonomy vis-a-vis Proposition 12 in this case before the Supreme Court to ensure that States are not stripped of their authority to protect the well-being of their citizens. Thank you for your consideration.


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