Republican Consultant Speaks Out Against Iowa "Ag Gag" Bill

Republican political consultant Mary Matalin, former aide to President George W. Bush, sent a letter to her colleagues in Iowa urging them not to pass the bill that would criminalize undercover investigations of factory farms.

In the letter penned to Speaker Kraig Paulsen, Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer and the bill's sponsor, Rep. Annette Sweeney — all fellow Republicans — Matalin writes, "Lawmakers and consumers from across the political spectrum have found that while promoting agriculture is of prime importance, so is making sure that workers at farms and slaughterhouses adhere to anti-cruelty laws. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act  is very poorly funded for enforcement."

She goes on to cite the case where a PETA undercover investigation of  a Hormel supplier located in Iowa resulted in local authorities filing 22 charges of animal cruelty. "If House File 589 succeeds," Matalin warns, "it may well single Iowa out as the state with something to hide, which I know can’t be the case."

Similar bills, nicknamed "ag gag" laws, have died in Illinois, Missouri and, most recently, Florida. The bill that cropped up in Minnesota also looks poised to fail (we need to keep the pressure on to make sure it does). But in Iowa, the bill has passed the House and continues to move through the Senate.

What are you hiding, Iowa?

Rep. Sweeney hasn't held back in her excuses for why this bill is supposedly needed, ranging from the agribusiness public relations nightmare resulting from investigations to the specter of bioterrorism.

She's even gone so far as to accuse undercover investigators of being the real animal abusers. KCCI in Des Moines reported that Sweeney said, "The problem is with some of those videos that they are staged. They come into a facility and they abuse the animals and that’s what we want to stop. We want to stop animal abuse."

That statement is not only absurd and unfounded, but it's also landed Sweeney in hot water with PETA's lawyers.

If Sweeney's concern was animal abuse, she would be rolling out the welcome mat for animal protection groups. Undercover investigations have become the primary way that officials and the public learn about the shocking cruelty happening behind closed factory farm doors.

And the public has a right to know — people should be able to choose whether they want to pay for animal cruelty, and they deserve to know when their food safety is being compromised by the unsanitary conditions where animals are housed.

Keep Big Ag accountable. Tell Iowa Senators to vote against the ag gag bill.

Photo credit: PETA