Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has called on Congress to immediately pass his PRIME Act in order to prevent wasted meat in a Sunday tweet.
“Thousands of animals will be killed & wasted today instead of feeding families. Meanwhile Congress takes an extended vacation,” he wrote.
“Pass the PRIME Act now to allow small American owned meat processors to catch the ball that the Chinese, Brazilian, & multinational processors dropped.”
He continued in a second tweet, posted minutes later.
“Farmers are going broke and shelves are going empty. Instead of just granting immunity from (American!) employee lawsuits to foreign owned companies, why not put America first?”
The PRIME Act, which was written by Massie himself, allows states to permit intrastate distribution of meat without USDA approval. Given the impracticalities of acquiring this USDA approval during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and ongoing meat supply chain issues, the PRIME Act would substantially increase the meat supply and thus reduce costs for consumers.
The PRIME Act currently has 31 co-sponsors in the House, including members of the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties of a broad range of ideological persuasions, including hardline conservative Rep. Steve King (R-IA), moderate Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and far-left Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). In the Senate, it is sponsored by Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and has 3 Republican co-sponsors.
