ALEX MOONEY: Congress Cooking Up Bill That Would Be Slap In The Face To Farmers, Local Governments

Americans have long valued states’ rights and limited government, ensuring that bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. do not dictate how we run our states or our personal lives. That’s why I strongly oppose the so-called Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act—a federal overreach that threatens the principles of federalism and state autonomy.

At its core, the EATS Act is a power grab by Washington and multinational corporations, including foreign-owned agribusiness interests, to strip states of their constitutional right to set agricultural standards. This bill would nullify laws like California’s Proposition 12, which sets animal welfare requirements for pork products sold in the state. But it doesn’t stop there—the EATS Act would also wipe out laws in at least ten states with cage-free egg regulations and 11 states that have banned cruel gestation crates for pigs.

While I don’t agree with many of California’s policies, I respect each state’s right to make its own decisions. States like Arizona, Colorado, Michigan and Florida have independently banned cruel confinement practices—not due to federal mandates but because their voters and elected officials saw fit to do so. The EATS Act would override these local decisions and undermine the will of millions of Americans who support higher animal welfare standards.

Opponents of Proposition 12, including the Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods and the National Pork Producers Council, have fought to weaken state authority under the guise of “free trade.” These efforts are not about protecting farmers or consumers but about consolidating power for the largest agribusinesses at the expense of small, independent farmers. By voiding state-level protections, the EATS Act would allow massive corporate conglomerates to dictate industry rules while sidelining local farmers who play by the rules their states have set.