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,

We have 10 years to turn this around. Even though Mont Vernon is a small town, we still throw out an AVERAGE of 3,516,496.2 pounds of trash a year. This is unacceptable, and also the weight of 2,583 grizzly bears. People also throw away about 5.1 pounds of trash A DAY, while only 1.4 gets recycled. And the EPA estimates that 75% of human waste could be recycled, however only 30% is. Each year, each person tosses out roughly 220.96 pounds of food waste, which is especially tragic since so many children are going hungry in the United States. The EPA also estimates that 1/3 of edible food is thrown out or wasted, and every single year, the US as a whole, disposes of 21.5 pounds of food waste. We don't have to stand back and watch!! Yes, we're a small town, but we could be the bridge to creating a healthier, greener world!! It's little things like this that can help us fight -and stop- climate change.

A 16-year-old girl working on palm oil plantations in Indonesia told the Associated Press that her boss took her to a remote part of the estate and suddenly grabbed her arm and started pawing her breasts, throwing her to the jungle floor. Then he held the ax to her throat, spit on her, and raped her. “He threatened to kill me,” she said softly. “He threatened to kill my whole family.” This story is just one of many -- women working on palm oil plantations are enduring horrific working conditions: From free labor to exposure to toxic pesticides to rape. And Procter & Gamble, like many other beauty brands, have blood on their hands as they source from producers that operate like modern-day slavery. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) investigations found that labor abuses regularly occur even on plantations that supply mills bearing the green palm stamp for sustainable palm oil. Procter & Gamble is one of the world’s biggest palm oil users, and despite year after year of its palm oil suppliers being exposed for labor abuses, it has failed to ensure palm oil workers are protected. We ask P&G to: 1) Enforce and monitor the worker protection standards for all its palm oil suppliers 2) Apply full transparency and proof that workers rights are being respected instead of relying on inadequate; certification schemes and allowing offenders to hide from public scrutiny If we expose a global giant like Procter & Gamble and make them shift big time, it will send ripple effects through the industry and all the others might follow suit.

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.

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.

The Climate Justice Committee calls on Biden to turn back Trump's Executive Orders that exacerbate climate change and environmental damage to the world. We call on Biden to sign Executive Orders overturning the damage done by Trump. These are by no means the only Executive Orders that need to go, but this would be a good start for Biden to show the climate justice movement that he takes climate change seriously. To do so requires nothing more than the signing of his pen, which is all it took for Trump to enact them in the first place. We know that is a drop in the bucket for what needs to be done to fight climate change and environmental destruction, so we hope you join the Climate Justice Committee in demanding these Executive Orders are rolled back, and also for real and meaningful action to save our planet. If you would like to co-sponsor this, please do so here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qk0h4W7FWcu9H_HUFMCLVAaLQRDncWxCXbNpmxMOmyY/edit

Burning our garbage is unhealthy, expensive, and unsustainable. So are landfills. False solutions, like pyrolysis or gasification (other ways to burn garbage), waste-to-fuel schemes (WTF), local landfills, or hauling our garbage out of state are not the answer. We support and will work hard with community leaders and residents to implement Zero Waste solutions for Connecticut.

There can be no true justice in America until there is actions coupled with the apologies for the North America slave trade.

We should not have a defeated President naming a Justice for life in the last few months of his term. McConnell blocked Obama’s Garland appointment in Obama’s last YEAR.

It affects all aspects of our lives. Women's rights concerning their own bodies, and many other key issues.

In February of 2016 you said “ The American people should have a voice in the selection of their new Supreme Court Justice.” We believe you should stuck to the same standard now

It is important for the people of the United States and will be our way to express a New Beginning for our Country and for the world stage, as well. It is also necessary for the new president and family to begin the difficult job of hope and repair. Our People House, The White House needs love and attention. Let’s do it !!