Reptile & Amphibian Forums

n/p

The vote was a voice vote where the chair simply decided whether she thought she heard more "ayes" than "nays." She then declared that the bill passed. Senator Inhofe asked that his vote be recorded as a "nay," but that action is symbolic. From his comments, I suspect that Senator Bond also voted "nay." Most of the Republicans didn't come to the meeting. They wouldn't have had the votes to stop this thing, so symbolic stuff wouldn't mean much.

Our emphasis now should be on talking to our legislators no matter who they are. I don't know whether we can stop this nonsense, but we have to worry less about friends or enemies right now.

Over the long term, we may not have any real friends, but we have real enemies. For the most part, those enemies are the Democrats. This bill would not have nearly as much momentum if the Democrats had not won in 2008. If we can swing Congress back to the GOP in 2010, we have our best chance of not seeing more attacks on our hobby.
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Inhofe was the only Senator who voted against the ban. The other 7 Republicans and 1 Independent voted for the ban, if only by thier abscence. So, the Republicans are as much to blame as the Democrats.

I'm sorry, but that's just nonsense. The people who are pushing this bill are Democrats. If the Democrats didn't control Congress, this stuff wouldn't have momentum. I realize many herpers are Democrats, but if they refuse to understand that their support for that party is helping destroy our hobby, they are in denial.
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Count them up! The Dems are the majority by far, stop taking up for them. Its the Dem. voters that have the most power here, at least you can say HAY A.H.I vote Dem and I'm going to stop if you dont change your tune. You think they give a big one about any Rep.voters. Get real. Same for the few Republacrats. If my Congressman voted for this I'd be in his face in person. What party do you think USHS people or PETA vote for! ITA A LIBERAL DRIVEN issue, and for over 20 yrs they have been spewing this fecies and we all thought they were just wack'os,..ENTER Po-loser Ree-deemer, O'BUMMER. Hell bent on the distruction of freedom. Look at Boxers record and others on this pannel like Nelson. They dont have a clue and didnt know anything about reptile ownership until "THE G.W./ENVIRONMENTALIST" angle was tied to it. Then they pounced on us with phony science that didnt even relate to what we do or stand for.They do this with EVERYTHING. Any 15 yr.old that owns reptiles sees through this phony report that Pythons will spread to MD. What a crock,it makes me sick that it is excepted. And the fact that they do is proof its a fixed game. ITS THEM you cant blame this on Republicans. They may be lazy helping us but they didnt start it.I dont even own Pythons but I did and they inspired me and lead me to other reptiles that I've devoted my life to, and I know mine will be next. Vic Morgan........pic caption live free or die out.

Todays vote was only for the amendment and they voted in favor of amending the bill to the 9.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

Today the Senate Committee on the Environment & Public Works (EPW) held a business meeting on S. 373. Committee Chair Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Member Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) presided. After brief statements the committee held a mark up session on S. 373, to amend title 18, United States Code, to add constrictor snakes of the species Python genera to the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacey Act. Senator Inhofe expressed concerns about the bill. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) offered an amendment to limit the scope of the bill to only the 9 snakes addressed in the USGS report on large constrictors. Senator Cardin further agreed to work with Senator Inhofe to improve the bill prior to a vote on the Senate floor. The amendment was passed by voice vote. S373 was then voted out of Committee by voice vote with Senator Inhofe registering a NO vote.

The Democrat amended the bill from the entire genera of Pythons, all 40 species, to limit the ban to just the 9 snakes. I do not want any banned, especially Boa constrictor, but that is the truth. The Democrat saved your ball pythons.

I don't think this is the time to argue about party politics. In all fairness, how would those of us who voted for dems have known that this nonsense would be pushed by them? Herp friendliness is not exactly one of "the issues" that come up in the campaigns. I'm sure there are some dems who oppose this, my own senator Byrd (D-WV) seemed to oppose this when I contacted him in February regarding this bill (Rockefeller not so much). On a side note, I think that USARK should get behind some bills too--such as the sea turtle protection bill--it will help impress upon congress that we not only look out for our hobby, but are conservation minded as well. Not only would it reflect truth, but it may win us some dems.

Thee "Democrat" altered it because we democrats in Md called him, emsiled him, and explained what the bill would actual do. I'm also in the process of explaing how goofy the list of 9 really is. Boas can't naturaly make it past Mexico, and the Bolivian Anaconda was only formally recognized in 2002. How many people keep them???? You may have read Sen Cardin's initial statement about "deadly constrictors". Compare that with his newer comments. He's istening to reason, at least...and I'll thank him for it. He really is a staunch evironmentalist and has gotten the same BS from the HSUS that the others have gotten. Cut him some slack. This has nothing to do with Republican/Deemocrat stuff, but it has ALL to do with the lies from the USGS reports and the HSUS. Did you know that the owners of the reeport refuse to differenciate between Indian and Burms? They claim they're the same animal. Funny...the Fed Gov't sure doesn't.

And we also supposedly had some of the same commitment from Senator Bill Nelson earlier on as well. See how that turned out. He had told USARK that he would move to limit it too Burmese pythons and African Rock pythons. He also committed to taking steps to help protect the industry. So much for his being open minded. Many of these politicians tell you what you want to hear to get rid of you. Eventually they will tow the party line.

Nelson has been my senator for far too long. Our freedom has never been a real concern too him. I was glad to hear that he took time to listen. I was very sceptical to believe he would actually stick to his word. Seems I was right in that thought.