Brad Miller Sticks Pitch Fork in Granville County Farmers
Last night, Brad Miller, Granville County’s own Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives voted YES to House Resolution H R 2749.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll680.xml#Y
What does this mean?
- Miller wants Granville Co. gardeners and food producers to pay a $500 annual fee just to sell their watermelons down at the crossroads or their squash at the farmers market.
- Miller has given the FDA, not the Department of Agriculture, new powers including mandatory recall authority.
- Miller wants bureaucrats at the FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested including elimination of the use of manure, mandating GMO animal feed, imposing animal drugs, and ordering applications of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides.
- Miller has given the FDA the power to conduct random warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.
- If you violate any of the provisions of this bill, Miller wants to impose severe criminal and civil penalties on you including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for individuals.
I guess the family farms, small organic food producers, and farmers markets of Granville county aren’t a priority to Brad Miller
Clearly, a complete powergrab over our agricultural sector. Were it challenged in court, I’m sure the Interstate Commerce Clause would be one of the arguments used in the government’s rebuttal. Big government growth has relied heavily on that section of the U.S. Constitution, which in fact has been stretched far beyond its’ original intent. Not to sound like a member of the Paul faction, but I’d love to see a constitutional convention called to scrub the ISCC out of the constitution, taking all of the “settled law” cases that relied on it, to the scrapheap of history. While we’re at it, the 16th and 17th amendments should be repealed as well.