Today: HSUS Lobbying to Protect Ever-popular Endangered Species Act

One of my assignments as a Deputy District Leader volunteer for the HSUS is to lobby politicians on animal welfare legislation. The most recent push is to talk to legislators about riders which have been attached to unrelated bills with the intention of undermining the Endangered Species Act.

Today, Maryann Davis and I were able to meet with Claire McVay, a representative of Senator Bob Corker's office, and speak to her about these riders. We left her with summarized informational materials which she can share with her boss and his advisors.

Did you know that the Endangered Species Act is incredibly effective? It has prevented the extinction of 99% of the species listed under its care. And it is also enormously popular. In a 2015 poll, 90% of U.S. voters support upholding the Act.

With such success, many legislators have taken to trying to undermine the bill through "riders" on other, unrelated bills. Our goal today was to point those out and then ask the Senator not to allow these changes. When lobbying for these issues, we try to prepare by reading, printing up a few items to leave with the officials, and then get a photo of those who met.

Today we were successful and hopefully, we helped to build a relationship with his office and staff.

Mary Marr, Clair McVay, and Maryann Davis

Further resources:

HSUS Page on Wolves

TN Senator Bob Corker's Committee Assignments Page

My Instagram Photo from today's meeting

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