YOU CAN HELP SAVE MARINE MAMMALS

Hey you guys, this is important.
Please please call or write your rep. Your voice does count. I have learned that one person, one action can really make a difference.

Help Protect Marine Mammals! Oppose H.R. 4075

The House of Representatives is expected to be vote on amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act the week of May 15, and we urgently need your help to uphold this important conservation law. The bill most likely to move (H.R. 4075) is sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and would severely weaken many of its key provisions.

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  Please call or write your member of Congress and urge him or her not to "kill the Dolphin Deadline" and to oppose H.R. 4075 or any other effort to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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  Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
  Representative Ginny Brown-Waite(202) 225-1002U.S. House of Representatives414 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515-0001
  
  Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): Your Congressperson
  Below is the sample letter:
  Subject: Please oppose H.R. 4075
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  Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
  I am concerned about the report that H.R. 4075, which would amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act, will be voted on in the next couple weeks. This bill aims to weaken critical provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and I urge you to strongly oppose it and any other attempt to undermine this important conservation law.The Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed over 30 years ago to reverse the decline in the populations of whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals. In 1994, Congress amended the law to reduce the amount of marine mammals that commercial fisheries seriously injure or kill. This provision is called the Zero Mortality Rate Goal, and it requires that commercial fisheries reduce their harm to marine mammals to insignificant levels. Congress gave commercial fishing operations a full seven years to achieve the goal. This "Dolphin Deadline" has long passed, but still it is unrealized. Every year that commercial fisheries fail to achieve the Zero Mortality Rate Goal, approximately 1900 additional whales, dolphins and other marine mammals are killed. Instead of redoubling efforts to reduce the bycatch of marine mammals, Congressman Pombo's bill, H.R. 4075 would remove the deadline altogether. This is a reckless course that must be averted. Please oppose any efforts to remove the "Dolphin Deadline" or otherwise weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act.