Agriculture Committee Members, I oppose bill A04611. This bill has broad sweeping negative impacts on many animal interest groups including farmers, bird breeders, reptile keepers, mammal breeders, and more. New York Assembly Bill 4611 (A04611) was introduced on February 4. This bill seeks to ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. This included shipments within, into and from the state (both import and export). Per the bill, shipping via any “mail carrier” will be banned so that includes the commonly utilized overnight services from major carriers such as FedEx and UPS (for verified shippers). A04611 was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Fines can be $1,000 per violation. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill and she sits on the assigned Agriculture Committee. The Committee members must be made aware of the broad sweeping repercussions of this bill and informed of the many shipping regulations, restrictions, and safeguards already in place. Please allow me to inform you regarding the many regulations already in place to protect animals. Stringent policies are already in place by shipping companies, as well as various federal and state animal welfare laws. First, mail carriers already prohibit the shipment of many animals. The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the shipping of mammals, most birds, turtles, and snakes. The United Parcel Service (UPS) does not allow shipments of mammals, birds, or snakes. Other companies have various restrictions and certifications. For example, FedEx requires that you have a Live Reptile Certification in order to ship live reptiles. If a carrier does allow for the shipment of certain live animals, there are stringent policies and laws in place. These include but are not limited to: Containers must meet construction standards; Proper ventilation; Veterinary health certificates and inspections; Use of heat/cold packs during certain weather conditions; International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards; International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) standards; Labeling requirements; Internal packaging requirements; The federal Lacey Act. Not only are all of these regulations already in place, but shipments are required to be done as timely as possible. When reptiles are shipped, they are delivered to the carrier or picked up late in the day and then delivered early the following day. The travel time is always less than 24 hours, and typically closer to 12 hours. Animals also are not shipped during temperature extremes as various thresholds for animal safety are applicable (too hot/too cold). The shipping of live animals is a serious matter, is not unregulated, and is not taken lightly by either the shippers or the carriers. For those who do ship animals, protections and safeguards for those animals are numerous. I hope you oppose and stop A04611. It is a misguided bill attempting to fix a problem that does not exist due to so many protections already existing. A04611 is bad for New York, the residents, and the animals. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Have a good day. Bill Text February 4, 2021 Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohibiting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 382 to read as follows: 3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1. 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to 5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within 6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside 7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall 8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean 9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service 10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall 11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in 12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo- 13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to 14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal 15 service or other mail carrier. 16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty 17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed 18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for 19 mailing. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately Sincerely,

Native Americans are the most unprotected group in America. This community has the shortest life expectancy due to the government's ignorance towards their protection. During the COVID pandemic, these communities are in even more dire need of support from governments on all levels. please fight to redirect more funding for Native American communities.

White nationalists and conspiracy theorists already attempted a failed coup on our government because they believe the election was stolen from Trump. After they overwhelmed law enforcement, they went back into our communities to stay at rental properties after some hotels closed ahead of their arrival. Now they are coming back. Vrbo should provide incentives for people to not rent out their properties in the DC metro area from Jan. 16th-Jan. 21st in order to keep our communities safe. Vrbo should follow the lead of Airbnb and provide funding to help those who are struggling and not rely on individual Vrbo hosts to cancel or block out reservations. Many Vrbo hosts rely on renting their space in order to make monthly rent or obtain another source of income as a result of the unemployment or underemployment during the pandemic. Also, many local DC Vrbo guests are don't have stable housing or are unhoused. Let's hold corporations accountable in actively fighting against white supremacy. Words are empty with action!

It is important for my son's case to be re-examined because the evidence shows that the police officer's life was never in any danger and he was acting upon impulse. I also believe that the District Attorney's decision to not charge this case is for political interest. There are so many unjustified police shootings that has taken place in the State of Georgia and the police officers are not being charged by the District Attorneys. There seems to be a culture within the police departments for the officers to use a specific reason of "fear for life" to justify their actions and this will free them of being held responsible for shooting and killing of our children. This type of culture needs to be examined by the United States Justice Department. In addition, there should be an independent audit of the District Attorney's office to examine the processing of evidence in police shooting cases.

Because Senator Roger Marshall CONTINUED to support setting aside Americans' presidential votes; because he CONTINUED supporting the lies that Donald Trump won the election and was cheated out of our presidency; because Roger Marshall is not so profoundly stupid as to believe the lies he supports, and could profess them solely for divisive political purposes: because Roger Marshall CONTINUES to support those lies even after personally experiencing the terroristic violence of the division they cause: Roger Marshall has demonstrated he is and will CONTINUE to be an enemy of America's unity and peace. He should be removed from the U.S. Senate.

Back in June, an OAN host suggested that “traitors" who "stole" the election should be executed. OAN spreads dangerous messages like these every single day, powered by the income from AT&T.  And court records show that not only does AT&T provide tens of millions of dollars in revenue for OAN, AT&T allegedly proposed the idea of a right-wing show for its satellite service, DirecTV, the only cable provider that gives OAN a platform to spread its dangerous messages. Even OAN lawyer Patrick Nellies acknowledged that if OAN loses or isn’t renewed by AT&T's DirecTV, the company would “go out of business tomorrow,” which shows just how much power AT&T has to stop OAN. And AT&T isn’t just giving a platform and singlehandedly bankrolling conspiracy theory network OAN, it also donated almost $300,000 to the Texas lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the horrible abortion ban. Unfortunately, that’s not all. AT&T was also among the corporations that committed to stop donating PAC money to Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fueled the insurrection, but it broke that commitment and has since donated thousands, hoping we wouldn't notice. AT&T is fueling attacks on our democracy by propping up and enabling white supremacy propaganda and conspiracy theory network OAN and by funneling PAC donations to insurrectionists. AT&T must drop OAN from DirecTV now.

This is important because no asylum seeker should be deprived of their liberty without due process of law. Currently, asylum seekers who come to our border and present themselves at a Port of Entry are not eligible for a bond hearing. There is therefore no judicial review, or checks-and-balances, to what ICE decides. This goes against our country's fundamental notions of justice and democracy.

Citing his baseless claims that the election was stolen from him President Trump fomented an insurrection at the US Capitol. He is clearly delusional and dangerous. It is time for Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office immediately.

Many key Senators who have for months supported the incumbent president of the United States and publicly and boldly opposed the certification of the electoral vote count due to election integrity charges changed their stance after being whisked away into "secure locations" in the Capital building during the lockdown. In order to ensure our representation in Congress through these key representative members has not been compromised by intimidation, threats and other forms of illegal or unconscionable coercion we must have an investigation into the preceding hours after these representatives where whisked away to "secure locations".

Rahm Emanuel‘s decisions and policies as mayor had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. The Department of Transportation has unions representing over 38,000 employees at the federal and national level. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. We have no reason to believe that he’d act any differently as a member of President-elect Biden’s Cabinet. President-elect Biden is taking office during a time of deep, overlapping crises. His administration will need to be bold, ambitious, and transformative and will need to speak to the needs of everyday people, and he needs to stand up for Black communities, as he said he would last month. His appointees must reflect that vision. Rahm Emanuel's track record is an affront to everything we voted for—especially to Black Americans—and he should have no place in the new administration.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been named Ambassador to Japan, but he hasn't yet been confirmed for the position. Emanuel had an absolutely disastrous record as mayor between 2011 and 2019. His decisions and policies had a disproportionate and racist impact on Black communities, and his agenda aided corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working Chicagoans. To aid his re-election campaign in 2015, he suppressed video footage of the 2014 murder of a 17-year-old Black child, Laquan McDonald, by Chicago police. He made history by closing 50 public schools across Chicago, primarily in the majority-Black South Side and West Side communities of the city—the most school closures at one time in any school districts in the nation. During his first year in office, his administration shut down half of the public mental health clinics across Chicago. Soon after taking office, he eliminated the city’s Department of Environment, and as a result, environmental regulation dropped considerably. Communities of color throughout Chicago have borne the brunt of this decision, and thousands of people (primarily Black and Latinx families) have been exposed to chemical hazards and irritants as a result. And while his administration was consistently slashing public services and utilities, the city funded the construction of a brand-new, $95-million police academy on Chicago’s West Side. As mayor of Chicago, in addition to closing 50 schools, Emanuel repeatedly attacked public unions by supporting legislation that would make it harder for teachers to strike, laid off hundreds of school staff, and threatened to lay off hundreds of city employees in order to privatize some city services. Emanuel served big business and corporate interests throughout his time as mayor, and his decisions disproportionately harmed working families and communities of color. There's no reason why he should be rewarded with a public office, especially one in which he is representing the United States on a global stage. We are asking that President Biden withdraws Emanuel's nomination—and we're also calling on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote to oppose it.

This is very important because our loved ones are possibly going to get sick and not make it home to their families, wife’s and children by the prison spreading the virus and treating them as if they are not human.