The VPI Diary

Texas is the largest state in the US with a huge membership in USARK. We need many more Texans to get involved in the S373 Senate Campaign. Please do your duty for the Reptile Nation. Senator John Cornyn and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison need to hear from all Texans on this issue. We have made this about as easy as possible. Please do your part today Texas! Lead the way for the rest of the Reptile Nation.

CBO to Score S373

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has tapped the United States Association of Reptile Keepers to provide critical Reptile Industry data necessary to create a report to Congress assessing the economic impact of Senate bill 373. The CBO has also contacted certain individuals within the industry to detail what impact proposed legislation would have on their individual businesses. Contributors were given only two business days to make submission of economic data. The deadline for submissions was Thursday, December 17, 2009.

US Chamber of Commerce Opposes S373

WILMINGTON, NC, December 16--In a letter addressed to the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works the US Chamber of Commerce takes a position opposing S. 373 that echoes the position of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers. The bill ostensibly written to address the issue of feral Burmese pythons in the Everglades is overreaching and circumvents the scientific listing process called for by the Lacey Act through the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

 UPDATE: S373 Python Ban

December 10, 2009 Wilmington, NC- Driven by powerful special interests and much media sensation S. 373 aka ‘The Python Ban’ is likely to move forward despite lack of scientific justification. Pushed by Sponsor Senator Bill Nelson and the Humane Society of the United States S. 373 could devastate the trade in high quality captive bred reptiles in the United States.

 S373: Sen. Nelson Won't Honor Commitment

     I grew up in Washington D.C. and went to Sidwell Friends School. My late father was the Curator of Ceramics and Glass at the Smithsonian and then the Director of the Maryland Historical Society. I graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a M.S. in Biology. In between my undergrad and graduate work I lived in Panama for two years working with a great project on green iguanas at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I worked on a project with Tuataras in New Zealand and did my Masters Thesis on behavior in Moray eels.