Personally, I think that the intent of the Bill is a good one, but that is due to having been a student of Primatology (both in the field -- in the Amazon Basin and in fossil prospecting in Wyoming, and in a university setting where I worked with 3 genera of apes, at least 8 genera of NW monkeys, and 2 of prosiminans) before illness cut my education short, and having worked with ecological studies since then. There really IS a need to ban certain animals and plants, and I suspect they are going about it backwards (by creating a list of what would be allowed) so that unnamed species are kept out. That approach opens a real can of worms, though, unless such Bills would have greatly enlarged lists of flora and fauna based upon actual data. The number of letters has been good BUT the Bill HAS ADVANCED TO FULL COMMITTEE so people are patting themselves on the back too soon and we could all easily wind up blind sided. People in their states need to be extra sure to write to these members of the House of Representatives who are CO-SPONSORS of HR 669. Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU] Cosponsors [as of 2009-04-24] Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA] Del. Eni Faleomavaega [D-AS] Del. Gregorio Sablan [I-MP] Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN] Del. Donna Christensen [D-VI] Rep. Frank Pallone [D-NJ] Rep. Neil Abercrombie [D-HI] Rep. James McGovern [D-MA] Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA] Rep. Ronald Kind [D-WI] Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ] Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA] Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA] Rep. Rush Holt [D-NJ] Rep. Steve Kagen [D-WI] Rep. Charles Gonzalez [D-TX] Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY] Rep. Dale Kildee [D-MI] Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA] Rep. Ron Klein [D-FL] Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR] Rep. Sam Farr [D-CA] Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL] Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart [R-FL] Rep. George Miller [D-CA] Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date. A great additional resource for detailed information on HR 669: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-669 The Bill is going to be under discussion in the following committees now: The previous subcommittee where it was already under "study" (if the little bit done could be called that) so see previous posts on that regard Now it will ALSO be going to the House Committee on Natural Resources which has 48 members: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSII <http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=96&Itemid=27> >Members of the Committee on Natural Resources >U.S. House of Representatives >111th Congress >1324 Longworth House Office Building >(202) 225-6065 Fax: (202) 225-1931 >MR. NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, Chairman >MR. DOC HASTINGS, Washington, Ranking Republican Member > > (Ratio 29-20) > > Dale E. Kildee, Michigan > Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa > Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii > Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey > Grace F. Napolitano, California > Rush D. Holt, New Jersey > Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona > Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam > Jim Costa, California > Dan Boren, Oklahoma > Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands > Martin Heinrich, New Mexico > George Miller, California > Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts > Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon > Maurice D. Hinchey, New York > Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands > Diana DeGette, Colorado > Ron Kind, Wisconsin > Lois Capps, California > Jay Inslee, Washington > Joe Baca, California > Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota > John P. Sarbanes, Maryland > Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire > Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts > Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland > Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico Don Young, Alaska > Elton Gallegly, California > John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee > Jeff Flake, Arizona > Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina > Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington > Louie Gohmert, Texas > Rob Bishop, Utah > Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania > Doug Lamborn, Colorado > Adrian Smith, Nebraska > Robert J. Wittman, Virginia > Paul C. Broun, Georgia > John Fleming, Louisiana > Mike Coffman, Colorado > Jason Chaffetz, Utah > Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming > Tom McClintock, California > Bill Cassidy, Louisiana >Members of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife >1337 Longworth House Office Building (Insular Affairs) >(202) 225-0691 Fax: (202) 225-0521 > >187 Ford House Office Building (Oceans and Wildlife) >(202) 226-0200 Fax: (202) 225-1542 > > Mrs. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam, Chairwoman > Mr. Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina, Ranking Republican Member > > Dale E. Kildee, Michigan > Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa > Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii > Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey > Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands > Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands > Diana DeGette, Colorado > Ron Kind, Wisconsin > Lois Capps, California > Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire > Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland > Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico > Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia (ex officio) > Don Young, Alaska > Jeff Flake, Arizona > Doug Lamborn, Colorado > Robert J. Wittman, Virginia > John Fleming, Louisiana > Jason Chaffetz, Utah > Bill Cassidy, Louisiana > Doc Hastings, Washington, ex officio Where to find the addresses of members of Congress: your library your town hall and local newspaper's editorial page for your own Reps (who also need to be written) Resources such as <https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml> [Posted in FML 6314]