House Democrats Beat Back Farm Lobbyists on Security Bill
EmailOvercoming years of opposition by farm industry lobbyists, the House of Representatives today passed legislation that would require background checks and registration for buyers and sellers of ammonium nitrate, a popular fertilizer that terrorists have used as a powerful explosive. (Photo: World Trade Center ’93 bombing) "The legislation not only better secures our communities from threats posed by inappropriate use of these materials, it also secures and enforces the legitimate uses of ammonium nitrate," said House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D- Miss., who pushed hard to pass this legislation. The legislation had been introduced, without success, every year since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 where 168 people died from a massive ammonium nitrate bomb. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS Blotter Effort to Secure Ammonium Nitrate Sales Stalls Blotter Ammonium Nitrate: Weapon of Choice for Terrorists? Video Ammonium Nitrate: Fertilizer or Terror Tool? Click Here to Check Out Brian Ross Slideshows A very popular, inexpensive and legal fertilizer, ammonium nitrate was used in terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia; Istanbul, Turkey; and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. An ABC News "20/20" undercover investigation in 2006 revealed how easy it was for large quantities of ammonium nitrate to be purchased by strangers, with cash, at rural farm stores in Virginia and North Carolina, no questions asked. The Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act, which still requires Senate passage, would give the Department of Homeland Security the power to regulate the sale of the fertilizer and requires background checks and registration for anyone who wants to buy it. Before today, efforts in Congress to require background checks have been blocked by lobbyists for the American Farm Bureau as an unnecessary burden on farmers. "Background checks would definitely be something that would cause many of the folks I work for a hard time," Rebeckah Adcock, director of congressional relations at the American Farm Bureau, told ABC News last year. The Farm Bureau today said it did not oppose the legislation that passed the House. Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?
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This isn’t so bad.
Let’s see, it goes something like this…
No ID/Security Papers,
No fertilizer,
No Food.
What’s the problem?
Afraid of getting a little hungry waiting for that next boxcar shipment of contaminated food from china?
Someone in 1939 would be proud
Posted by: watcher | October 23, 2007, 3:22 pm 3:22 pm
And if you have a police record? Does that mean you can’t farm? Oh well, back to manure. Oh, wait–the cows were tagged with RFID, and the Feds came and got them, too. What’s a poor farmer to do?
Posted by: passerby | October 23, 2007, 5:05 pm 5:05 pm
What will the illegal immigrants do? They are supposed to be the mainstay of US agriculture, and they have NO PAPERS. Let us not continue the belief that all lobbyists are bad – sometimes (more often than not) members of Congress are so dumb and/or uninformed that it is worth the cost of lobbists to tell the Congressmen (& women) the “facts of life.”
Posted by: TheOldTrooper | October 24, 2007, 11:15 am 11:15 am
Agreed. Congress is dumb (as well as the rest of “Them” – use your imagination…).
Now, with that said, do you want to be a lobbyist? You get to tell them “Dummies” what life is all about.
Is it worth the cost – No.
If our “Dummies” would have done their jobs in the first place we wouldn’t be having this conversation this way, it would be different. We would be complaining about how some other “Dummies” didn’t do their job and so on.
See the pattern?
Besides, taking most of those “Dummies” out of the equation would bring the budget down by several Trillion $$, therby giving us (that’s the actual WORKING class) more money and time to do what we need to do just to live.
There are no sure-fire answers, but if we work on it, maybe, just maybe, some good can come of it…
Posted by: Watcher | October 24, 2007, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm
Shortly after Timothy McVeigh used ammonium nitrate to bomb the government building in Oklahoma City (April 1995), I became in charge of a very large farming operation, and a segment of that farming operation required the yearly use of a few tons of ammonium nitrate. I felt uneasy about purchasing a large amount of this fertilizer, and it would seem reasonable to require some sort of background check to purchase this material. Ammonium nitrate (NH4) is similar to dynamite, except it has a dual use — NH4 can also be used as a fertilizer (where dynamite is ONLY an explosive). A background check might not be the perfect solution, and it might not be the only solution, but for now, it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place. Illegal migrant workers aren’t likely to be the ones who would purchase ammonium nitrate on behalf of farming operations.
Posted by: Ben There | October 24, 2007, 8:38 pm 8:38 pm
Stupidity reigns in Washington. But… as long as it’s done to keep us gutless subjects safe.. I’m sure it will fly. I still don’t know why people are allowed to close their curtains at night. What are they hiding from the government?
Posted by: Dutch | October 29, 2007, 11:39 am 11:39 am
We are hiding our…
Oops, almost spilled them beans again!
Seriously…
Just found out about an addition to the farm bill:
The Meat producers introduced an addition to the farm bill that would possibly put us (and our diet) at risk. First it’s the veggies, now the meat?
I don’t think so…
Posted by: Watcher | November 1, 2007, 3:37 pm 3:37 pm