WASHINGTON, D.C., March 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, ahead of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture's Hearing on China's infiltration of American Agriculture, Moms for America (MFA), the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), and Competitive Markets Action (OCM), called on lobbyists who represent Smithfield Foods, owned by Chinese group 万洲国际, to drop the foreign multinational conglomerate as a client. The hearing, entitled “The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture,” is set to be held at 11:30 AM EST.
The groups call comes in the wake of countless lobbying firms delisting Chinese clients as lawmakers have weighed blacklisting firms lobbying for the Chinese. Amidst the terminations the Chinese-owned Smithfield, who owns one in every six sows in America, and whose purchase was financed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2013, has not been delisted by Holland and Knight, one of the largest lobbying firms in Washington, D.C., according to lobbying reports that also show the firm has been paid nearly $1 million representing the Chinese conglomerate over the past year.
China's Smithfield continues to be a very serious and dangerous threat to the American farmers and ranchers and U.S. food production as the company continues to back and lobby for the EATS Act, H.R. 4417/S. 2019. This dangerous legislation, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, would nullify more than 1,000 state laws that protect American family farmers from Chinese influence. The EATS Act, and other legislation like it is being pushed by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-PA,and is opposed by more than 2,000 diverse opponents with millions of members that include Moms For America, Farm Action, Competitive Markets Action, the Organization of Competitive Markets, FreedomWorks, the American Grassfed Association, Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association, Kansas Cattlemen's Association, and three of the nation’s top American-owned pork producers: Heritage Foods, Niman Ranch, and Clemens Food Group/Hatfield Meats, who was featured in Forbes Tuesday for their ethical pork production.
“Congress should take swift action and blacklist any lobbying firms and groups that Smithfield has contracted as the Chinese conglomerate remains a serious threat to national security and American food production,” said Taylor Haynes, president at the Organization for Competitive Markets. “Smithfield’s EATS Act is the greatest threat to American family farmers we’ve seen in half a century.”
“The Members of Congress who want to keep our families and our food systems safe should blacklist any firms representing Chinese multinational conglomerates who are a threat to our security,” said Kimberly Fletcher, President of Moms for America. “Ensuring that the Chinese aren’t allowed to further consolidate food production in the U.S. is a critical component of our legislative agenda, and the federal power grab by the swamp to nullify state laws must be defeated at all costs.”
“Smithfield and their lobbyists should be banned from influencing our federal government and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack who continues to sell out American family farmers for China’s gain,” said Mike Schultz, founder of the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association and vice-president at the Organization for Competitive Markets. “We must stand together in the face of Chinese threats like these. This isn’t just about the one industry. It’s about every one of us and the very plates on our kitchen table.”
“Smithfield, their lobbying, and Joe Biden’s Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack are the very definition of the swamp, and they continue to implement policies that put American family farmers out of business,” said Marty Irby, president and CEO at Competitive Markets Action and board secretary at the Organization for Competitive Markets. "It's time to truly drain these Chinese infested waters in the swamp."
This month, 10 U.S. House Republicans, led by House Freedom Caucus (HFC) champion Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL, sent a letter that included HFC chairman Bob Good, R-VA, to Thompson and Ranking Member David Scott, D-GA, against the nullification of Prop 12 that followed a similar October 2023 letter to Thompson and Scott signed by 16 House Republicans and led by front-liner Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-NY.
To date, 226 bipartisan Members of Congress have vocalized their opposition to the nullification of Prop 12 by Thompson and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-KS, who continue to champion the assault. 171 bipartisan Members of the House sent a letter to Thompson and Scott in August of 2023 and 31 U.S. Senators sent a similar letter to Senate Agriculture Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, and Ranking Member John Boozman, R-AR, last August.
Since the EATS Act was introduced in 2023, the only public opposition Prop 12 has seen from a Democrat in federal office is from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, D-IA, who has a long record of backing Chinese agriculture interests.
Founded in 2004, Moms for America is a national, non-profit 501c3 educational corporation rooted on the principles of liberty and virtue our nation was founded on, and focused on promoting these principles, values, and virtues in the home and family, particularly through the women and mothers of America. To learn more about Moms for America, please visit momsforamerica.us. You can follow MFA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The foundation of the Organization for Competitive Markets is to fight for competitive markets in agriculture for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. True competition reduces the need for economic regulation. Our mission, and our duty, is to define and advocate the proper role of government in the agricultural economy as a regulator and enforcer of rules necessary for markets that are fair, honest, accessible and competitive for all citizens.
Competitive Markets Action (CMA) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit based in Washington, D.C., that was formed with the mission of shaping policy to promote more regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and competitive markets in the U.S., and to defend against attacks on states’ rights by the federal government. CMA works to raise awareness of the harm caused by multinational conglomerates to the American family farmer, the consumer and our U.S. economy as a whole in an effort to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms.
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