Senator O.

Hardwick
Arizona

Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

To the People of the Great State of Arizona,

As the 115th session of Congress has come to a close, I am writing you this letter to inform you of the victories
and the defeats of this past session. I believe it is important to communicate what I have done on your behalf;
this letter is a reflection of my actions this past session.

During this session I wanted to draw attention to our nation’s issue of mass factory farming. Arizona is home to
half a million animals that live on factory farms. These farms are fuelling their livestock with corn, high amounts
of grain and other toxins that are polluting our waters, air and our health. These animals are also living in very
close quarters with each other, which then heightens an animal’s stress level and decreases the quality of
product that they produce. Keeping this in mind, I introduced the Sensible Farming Act, a bill to further regulate
factory farming.

Mass factory farming is not only an issue for Arizona. Arizona has the sixteenth highest number of factory
farmed animals. Iowa has over three million animals living on factory farms.Texas also has over 3 million
factory farmed animals. Those animals are subject to inhumanity and cruelty throughout their lives, however,
they are are all negatively contributing to your livelihood through the means of their poor quality of product that
you consume and the toxins that they produce into our environment.

The bipartisan bill I proposed would increase the amount of land per animal and make changes to the animals’
diets. For example, cows would be required to largely eat grass, as that is what their body was naturally made
to eat. An issue was brought up in Committee about the increase in prices of animal products as the products’
quality improved. A senator pointed out that many citizens of the United States need cheaper food options to
survive. To combat this issue, I extended the bill to insure tax cuts to farmers who abide by the regulations.
These tax cuts will ensure that farmers get an increase in salary while maintaining the price of product.

The extended bill passed Committee but unfortunately was not addressed on the Senate Floor. Nevertheless, I
will continue to push this bill in following sessions until it is passed to ensure that factory farming will not impact
your health and our environment anymore. During lobbying, I generated much support for the bill. I spoke to
delegates, both Republican and Democrat, about this bill during recess and they have recognized that the
issues this bill addresses are a priority that our nation needs to address. I assure you that we will get this done,
because as fellow Arizonans you know, we get things done.

The first bill on the agenda was introduced by Senator Dayak. Senate Bill #1 Sea Level Upward Rising
Prevention Act (SLURP) outlined a solution to combat the effects of sea-level rise for states that have
shoreline. “Living shorelines”, a infrastructure technique using vegetation to stabilize shorelines, is the solution
that Sen. Dayak proposed. The bill explains that $10,000 would be needed per one mile of coastline, however,
Sen. Dayak explained that all states would need to pay a portion of the cost to fund the project. She also
explained that the cost would be reoccuring when needed. This is an obvious problem for me, and it should be
for you, since Arizona is a land-locked state this bill does not benefit us in the slightest yet takes money from
your pockets. I voted against this bill, however it passed 22-16 in the Senate. Fortunately, the bill died on the
House floor with zero votes in favor.
A bill was passed in the House that involved the topic of cybersecurity. Representative Nieman introduced the
Cybersecurity Act, a bill that increases the funding for fighting cyber attacks from $28 million to $300 million, a
major increase. The bill did not specify where this money was coming from or how exactly it would be used.
Currently the government protects government websites, however, Rep. Nieman’s bill states that the money
would be put towards protecting company websites, such as Facebook and Amazon, to ensure security of
customer information. To me this bill is government-overstepping. Corporations as large as Amazon have
plenty of money to protect their sites without government assistance. An amendment was proposed to change
the funding from $300 million to $50 million. I voted in favor of this amendment as it significantly decreases the
government spending on this topic. The amendment passed, however, many, myself included, were not
satisfied, as we still had no idea as to where this money was going or where it was coming from. This bill failed
in the Senate with a unanimous vote for its termination.

Later in the session, Senator Thorne introduced Senate Bill #8 The Women’s Education to Employment Act.
She outlined the problem facing women in third world countries who are oppressed and/or unable/not allowed
to attend school. Her bill would give $50 million from the defense budget to the State Department to create new
programs that support these women in pursuing education. I have a few problems with this bill. First, Sen.
Thorne did not specify which section of the defense budget this money would come from. While $50 million is
only 0.08% of the entire defense budget, it is important to know what program would lose funding.. The money
could be coming from the section that helps families in which a member of said family died in combat, we do
not know. Another one of my problems with this bill is that Sen. Thorne claims the bill will “improve diplomacy”
with other nations. While this could happen, it could also worsen diplomatic ties with countries who oppress
their women. My final issue with this bill is that we have tremendous problems with our school systems here at
home. Arizona is ranked 49 out of 50 for the amount of money spent per pupil in the public school system. We
could definitely use a portion of that proposed $50 million. As a nation we need to maintain an America First
view and fix our issues here at home before we can tackle problems around the world. I am proud to say that I
was among the 21 Senators who did not vote for this bill, causing it to fail on the Senate floor.

I hope that you support the work I have done on your behalf. Throughout this session the Majority Leader only
brought two Republican bills to the Senate floor. Despite this, I feel that this session has been successful. My
goal is always to fight for you. Thank you for your continuing confidence and support, and remember I am here
to serve you.

Sincerely,

Senator O. Hardwick