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USARK has secured a meeting with Senator Bill Nelson's office for Friday August 7, 2009 in West Palm Beach. We will be asking Senator Nelson to understand that S373, the Python Ban, will hurt thousands of his constituents and create significant problems for the entire United States if passed as written.

If passed as written S373 will BAN the IMPORT, EXPORT and INTERSTATE COMMERCE of ALL Pythons. This is not a Florida issue. It is a federal bill in the US Senate. This is about the BAN of ALL pythons nationwide... from ball pythons on up. We believe that this bill will move in September following the August recess. The only question is what Senator Nelson might do to amend the bill prior to that time. We are optimistic that he will listen to our well thought out position. You can be sure that USARK will fight tooth and nail to defend the ENTIRE python community.

Update HR2811 (House companion to S373):

USARK continues to work with the Judiciary Committee and the bill's sponsors to further amend the bill to allow the captive bred trade in Burms and Afrocks to continue. Our policy staff has crafted language that, if accepted, would protect trade and investment in these animals. PIJAC contacted USARK yesterday with suggestions for amendment of the bill. We welcome the pet industry's desire to become engaged on this issue. We will review this proposal to ensure that it is consistent with our position. We are open to creating a second option. Whatever the final decision is, the solution must be simple, effective and protect the interests of the captive bred trade in Burms and Afrocks. We thank PIJAC for their interest and hope their proposal may prove helpful.

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Send questions to president@usark.org

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Andrew Wyatt
President USARK

Being a constituent, I recieved an email in response to my letter to his office regarding the law.
He stated in the letter responce that he understands the situation and prety much wants to amend it to include burmese and african rocks only. email me at albinoturtles@comcast.net to get the copy of it if you need it

from bill nelson:
Please do not reply to this e-mail. If you need to send another message to Senator Nelson, please use the form on his Web site: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm#email

Dear Mr. Barrera:

Thank you for writing me about S. 373, a bill I introduced that would ban the importation and trade between States of the Burmese python.

Burmese pythons often are released into the wild when their owners can no longer care for them. Though not native to south Florida, Burmese pythons are thriving in the Everglades National Park, threatening natural species, many of which are endangered, and posing the risk of upsetting the delicate ecosystem of the region. We have invested many years and billions of dollars in an effort to restore the Everglades to its natural balance, and non-native species, like Burmese pythons, threaten to undo that work.

The companion bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 2811) has been reported out of the Judiciary Committee and awaits consideration before the full House. Before the bill was reported out, the legislation was amended to include only Burmese pythons and African Rock pythons.

As this legislation moves through Congress, I will keep your views in mind. I appreciate you taking the time to write me with your views on this important matter. I hope you won't hesitate to do so in the future.

Sincerely,
Senator Bill Nelson