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To Help NY Dairy Farmers And Protect Consumers, Gillibrand Pushes Legislation To Require Country Of Origin Labeling On All Dairy Products

Also Outlines Legislation To Ensure Stable Milk Prices By Requiring USDA To Audit Cold Storage Facilities

March 3, 2010

Washington, DC – Responding to yet another recall of milk from China, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced her push for legislation that would require country of origin labeling (COOL) on all dairy products. Just last month, the Chinese government recalled 170 tons of milk powder that had been tainted with melamine. In 2008, milk tainted with melamine killed at least six infants and sickened more than 300,000 in China. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), during the past five years, U.S. dairy imports averaged around $2.7 billion annually.

If the U.S. cedes production of food to the lowest-cost producer, it leads to consolidation and eventually outsourcing. Senator Gillibrand believes it is a national security imperative that there is food production in every part of this country. In addition to Dairy COOL, Senator Gillibrand announced legislation to ensure stable farm milk pricing by requiring cold storage facilities to report their inventories to the USDA.

“We must do more to protect consumers and provide a competitive edge to New York dairy farmers,” Senator Gillibrand said. “All consumers have the right to know whether the milk, yogurt and cheese that we buy are made in Upstate New York or China. This legislation supports both families and farmers by requiring country of origin labeling on all dairy products. With increasing dairy imports and alarming news about tainted products overseas, country of origin labeling provides critical information to parents and all adults that will help them make smart choices for their families.”

Every year an estimated 87 million Americans are sickened by contaminated food, 371,000 are hospitalized with food-borne illness, and 5,700 die from food-related disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To protect families from imported dairy products and strengthen New York’s dairy industry, Senator Gillibrand announced her plan:

Country of Origin Labeling for All Dairy Products
Food imports constitute a growing share of what is sold on grocery shelves across the country and what Americans eat. Fifteen percent of America’s overall food supply is imported from overseas, including $5.2 billion worth of food from China alone. Since 1996, the U.S. agricultural trade surplus shrank from $27 billion to $8 billion in 2006. Individual shipments of food from China increased from 82,000 shipments in 2002 to 199,000 in 2006.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current COOL law went into effect requiring Country of Origin labeling for nuts, fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood. The Dairy COOL Act would extend COOL requirements to include dairy products – milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and butter.

Regularly Update Dairy Pricing Structures

The NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) survey, which keeps track of cheese inventory, has a large bearing on the price that farmers get paid for their milk. Currently, the price farmers get for their milk is determined by a complex formula based largely on the price of cheese and how it is traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Milk is valued by about 5 percent of national product being traded. Thus, not having a full picture of cheese inventory potentially has huge impact on the price of milk for all dairy farmers in America.

While Senator Gillibrand is working to find solutions to this arcane pricing system before writing the next farm bill, in the short-term, she wants to ensure that the pricing system is accurate and fully transparent.

Currently, the cold storage facilities that house cheese inventories report their stocks to NASS on a voluntary basis. For the facilities that do not report their stocks, NASS makes estimates of their inventory.

In February 2009, when NASS worked with facilities that had not been making reports to ascertain inventory, they found a 6 percent over-reporting between NASS estimates and actual stock. This had the effect of keeping dairy prices artificially low, while inventory was reported higher than actually existed.

Senator Gillibrand plans to introduce legislation which would make the NASS survey mandatory, and require the USDA to conduct periodic audits to ensure that cold storage facilities are properly reporting their inventories. Senator Gillibrand is working with USDA to create a mandatory reporting regime that increases transparency to ensure that the pricing regime, though flawed as it currently stands, is as accurate as possible.

Dairy Does DC

It is final. Make Plans to Join us.

=====================

Dairy Does D.C. in December

When: Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

Where: Washington, D.C.

Who: All Dairy Crisis Interested Parties

How: Reserve your bus seat. Buses departing on Dec. 1 from Utica, N.Y. (Bryan Gothamblcgotham@yahoo.com) and Hornell, N.Y. (Lisa Robinson robinsonfarms@zooninternet.net).

Everyone riding, driving or flying to D.C. will convene at Union Station in D.C. at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to kick-off our Dairy Day. Can't travel? Visit your Congressman and Senators district offices during the week of Nov. 30. Use the priority issue messages summarized below. Want assistance making appointments?Contact Tammy Graves, gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com/315-858-0163.

To learn more read below and/or join the next conference call

Monday, Nov. 16, 2009

8:30 p.m. EST

# 1 (605) 715-4900 code 466980

Confirmed and requested appointments to date cover the following states: California, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin, New Hampshire. Please submit appointment requests to Tammy Graves or advise her of your appointment confirmations for the master schedule. Thanks.

Summary of our D.C. messages:

Short- and long-term priority dairy issue items

1) big tariffs on milk protein concentrate (MPC) needed because MPCs are not approved for food use

2) mandatory audit of food companies’ dairy product inventory is necessary for dairy farmers to have honest price triggers and supply management

3) a temporary floor price of at least $17 (cost of production)

4) Long term – new price discovery mechanism utilizing a percentage of cost of production and/or a percentage of retail coupled with supply management.

Questions? Please contact Tammy Graves, gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com or Bryan Gotham, blcgotham@yahoo.com

==NEWS RELEASE FOLLOWS== For Immediate Release November 14, 2009 Contact: Tammy Graves, communications support United States Dairy Farmers and Friends usdairyfarmersandfriends@gmail.com (315) 858-0163 DAIRY FARMERS WILL BE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. DECEMBER 2 TO BALANCE INFLUENCE AND TO BUILD URBAN BRIDGES Richfield Springs, N.Y. – Building upon an unprecedented dairy farmer presence in Washington, D.C. for the final House Agriculture Committee hearing in July, dairy farmers and their allies will descend on Washington, D.C. Wednesday, Dec. 2. Politicians are being influenced by messages, particularly from cooperatives and processors that do not appropriately portray the state of the industry. Dairy farmers and their allies will be delivering their messages on December 2 as they did in July to keep checks and balances in the political influence as well as building bridges with Congressional representatives of suburban and urban areas. All interested parties are welcome: farmers, consumers, breed association members, state assemblyman and senators, Chambers of Commerce directors, Land Trusts, FFA teachers and students, agribusiness, financial representatives, college faculty and students. The day’s itinerary includes appointments with House and Senate Agriculture Committee members as well as House Education and Labor Committee members and attending the Future Trends in Animal Agriculture Symposium - The Future of Animal Agriculture: 2030 What Will Animal Agriculture Look Like?, What Should Animal Agriculture Look Like? For registration info and symposium details, go to http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/news/FTAADec09.pdf This will be a coast-to-coast, coordinated effort with messages being delivered simultaneously to district offices of Congressmen and Senators. You need not be in D.C. to be a part of this message delivery. For assistance with scheduling district office appointments or writing letters, contact Tammy Graves at gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com, Facebook or 315-858-0163. “Dairy farmers know their dues-taking organizations are not acting with conviction or speaking on their behalf,” says Barbara Borges-Martin, a California dairy farmer. “I’ll be echoing the D.C. voices in to my representative’s California offices.” The summary of messages includes three short-term items and one long-term item: 1) big tariffs on milk protein concentrate (MPC) needed because MPCs are not approved for food use 2) mandatory audit of food companies’ dairy product inventory is necessary for dairy farmers to have honest price triggers and correct supply management data 3) a temporary floor price of at least $17 to reflect cost of production and 4) Long term – a new price discovery mechanism utilizing a percentage of cost of production and/or a percentage of retail coupled with supply management. "We are excited to be launching our campaign of building bridges with metropolitan representatives," says Debbie Windecker, a dairy farmer from Frankfort, N.Y. "Just as dairy farmers and consumers need to connect, we will be building bridges between our rural and urban politicians. I have been told first-hand and repeatedly that there is a real disconnect between them." She adds that they will be asking "do your constituents accept and approve of their food coming from the world's lowest-cost producer regardless of what country that may be and rely on other countries for food as we do for oil?" In regards to milk, the U.S. will never be the lowest-cost producer in the world, according to Windecker. A bus will depart from Utica, N.Y. (Riverside Shopping Area) at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1 and arrive in Washington by 7 a.m. December 2. The bus will depart Washington, D.C. at 5 p.m. Call Bryan Gotham at 315-405-6456 or blcgotham@yahoo.com to reserve your seat - $30/seat and fundraising will continue. A bus will depart Hornell, N.Y. (Wegman's parking lot) on Tuesday, Dec 1. Call Lisa Robinson to reserve your seat - $50/seat and fundraising will continue - 607-525-6329 or robinsonfarms@zooninternet.net. Other states are finalizing arrangements. To receive an update on your state's trip plans. Please contact Bryan Gotham at blcgotham@yahoo.com, on Facebook or call 315-405-6456.

--- On Tue, 11/17/09, Farmshine <cowsrus1@ptd.net> wrote:

From: Farmshine

Pizza (MPC in Mozzarella) Makes a Case for Specter-Casey s.889

Pizza Makes a Case for Balancing Imports & Exports and Garnering Your Support for Specter-Casey s.889  

 

In my opinion, here is the “fair, free” market system as it applies to Pizza cheese, MPC and our fluid milk price.

I heard a keynote speaker say we sell our milk in circles -- pizza that is. However, that's not true anymore. Today, 30 to 40 percent of pizza cheese is potentially produced with MPC from mainly subsidized or low cost potentially under regulated milk from Europe, New Zealand, China, and India.  This low-priced MPC is available to U.S. cheese manufacturers under current trade law. 

A study from the Dairy Products Technology Center at California Polytechnic State University concludes you can increase cheese yield by 30 to 40 percent when using MPC in the cheese-making process.

In turn, U.S. cheese manufactures are free to spike importing of sometimes artificially, low-priced MPC from these subsidized-dairy farming areas of the world. They over produce with these low-cost inputs and flood the market.

Now, cheese storage facilities are filled and all of the excess milk goes to milk powder and the fluid milk market collapses. Throughout this “fair, free system”: 1) consumers’ prices drop slowly 2) cheese and powder manufacturers’ profit margins skyrocket 3) raw milk prices collapse.

This brings U.S. dairy farmers’ profit margins to the negative margin and makes them dependent on government subsidies, such as MILC, more than ever.

I have two predictions:

1) I predict we will never get out of this low milk price cycle unless 20 to 30 percent of U.S. dairies close their milk houses or milk powder or milk fat prices run the market up again because of free market, outside forces.

2) I also predict CWT program isn't going to be big enough to help us recoup our losses. As I have demonstrated in writing before, MPC import spikes have an uncanny inverse relationship with Class III Milk futures.

In closing, these “fair” market forces cannot be overcome with efficiency or low cost, regardless of how large your herd size is. My supporting argument is that MPC imports, for the most part, are priced artificially low. If this weren’t true, then they would not be coming into the U.S. in the name of “free trade.”

Your real competition is not your farm neighbor, it is not the dairy producer on the other coast. It is the legislation allowing unbalanced dairy import and exports to continue. The Specter-Casey Bill s.889 is the only idea, to date, that provides an import/export balancing mechanism. It also puts all manufactured milk on the same price level. In this manner, aquifer-draining, short-term, low-cost cheese production in southwestern U.S. doesn't jeopardize necessary, stable and long-term markets near population centers in other areas of the country. We need to remove control from CME and lessen the likelihood of future manipulation..

Whatever solution dairy farmers’ support and future U.S. food policy must meet two goals:

1)     Maintaining our homegrown food supply

2)     Removing opportunity for manipulating U.S. food-producing farmers’ livelihood and future

 

Have a good day.

Bryan Gotham 

Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) 101 for All

Milk Protein Concentrates 101

To read the complete article, go to:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/food-technologies/milk-protein-concentrates

You may never have heard of something called milk protein concentrates, but dairy farmers certainly have. 

Snapshot:

1. MPC's - a new, unregulated protein source in your food supply. It is replacing the highly regulated, U.S. produced nonfat dry milk and driving down the price paid for milk produced by U.S. dairy farm families

2. Created by a ultra-filtration process that removes all of the liquid and all of smaller molecules including the minerals (like calcium)

3. Found in processed cheese, frozen dairy desserts, crackers and energy bars

4. Produced as a dry powder, exporters can ship MPCs long-distances very cheaply, and almost all of the dry MPC’s used in America are imported from New Zealand

5. Imported MPCs are the product of cow’s milk and yak or water buffalo that are more popular in some MPC exporting countries. Blended milk proteins from different sources are allowed as imports under the U.S.'s MPC designation

6. Some cheese manufacturers are violating the guidelines for MPC as an additive and using it to make standard of identity cheese, like mozzarella and cheddar. And at the same time, scores of other dairy products—from frozen desserts to non-standardized cheese used on frozen pizzas to individually wrapped processed cheese slices — have no “standard of identity and contain MPC’s." 

7. Contact your Congressman or Senator by phone, fax or email and tell them you support the Specter-Casey bill s. 889 because it monitors MPC imports and ensures safe U.S. homegrown food from safe dairy ingredients

Unregulated imports of cheap milk protein concentrates are driving down the price of domestically produced milk and putting American dairy farmers out of business. And fewer American dairy farmers mean fewer choices for consumers, who are seeing increasing amounts of MPC’s—a new, unregulated protein source—in their food supply. 

What are Milk Protein Concentrates? 

MPC’s are created by putting milk through an ultra-filtration process that removes all of the liquid and all of smaller molecules including the minerals (i) that the dairy industry touts as being essential for good nutrition. 

What is left following the filtration is a dry substance that is very high in protein and used as an additive in products like processed cheese, frozen dairy desserts, crackers and energy bars. Because MPC’s are generally produced as a dry powder, exporters can ship the product long-distances very cheaply, and almost all of the dry MPC’s used in America are imported. 

In the United States, an MPC is defined as “any complete milk protein (casein plus lactalbumin) concentrate that is 40 percent or more protein by weight.” (ii) This definition is a bit of a catch-all because within the milk protein market there are a variety of proteins, like casein and whey, that are manufactured differently and can have different commercial uses. The definition also makes it unclear if imported MPC’s are the product of cow’s milk or if they come from animals like yak or water buffalo that are more popular in some exporting countries. Blended milk proteins from different sources are allowed as imports 

under the MPC designation. (iii) 

With such imprecise definitions and vague standards, it is hard to imagine how regulatory agencies manage to keep track of where this ingredient comes from and how it is used. As it turns out, they don’t have to, because MPC’s are largely unregulated. 

Why It Matters Where It’s From 

New Zealand is the major exporter of MPC’s to the U.S., but another dairy protein called casein is largely imported from China and Mexico, which together represent 70 percent of imported casein. Last year casein imports amounted to $61 million.(iv) Following recent scandals with food safety in China, including the melamine-tainted baby formula, American consumers have every reason to question imports of dairy products from countries where American standards cannot be enforced. 

Weak Regulations and Enforcement Means No Consumer Protection 



The FDA does have one mechanism to regulate MPC use in some dairy products. Many dairy products, like different types of cheeses, must conform to an official, FDA description about the components and/or processes used to make it, called “standards of identity.” One example is the difference between “cheddar cheese” and “pasteurized process cheese food,” which are both in the dairy case but bear different labels because they meet different standards for how they were made and what ingredients were used. 

MPC’s are not allowed for use in cheese products bearing a standard of identity. While this gives the FDA a way to regulate MPC use, the agency does not have sufficient resources – or political will – to enforce these regulations. A Government Accountability Office report from 2001 showed that the FDA only inspected nine cheese plants in all of 1999.xi The GAO also reported “In 2000, Vermont state inspectors found that two cheese plants were using imported milk protein concentrates to make standardized cheeses in violation of federal and state regulations.” (xii) 

And at the same time, scores of other dairy products—from frozen desserts to non-standardized cheese used on frozen pizzas to individually wrapped processed cheese slices — have no “standard of identity and contain MPC’s." 

MPC’s Impact on U.S. Dairy Farmers 

The United States’ imports of MPC’s have doubled in the last five years, and between 2007 and 2008 MPC imports increased 66 percent.xiii This $250 million worth of milk protein, mostly arriving from New Zealand,(xiv) is taking over the market share long-held by American dairy producers whose highly regulated, nonfat dry milk has been a preferred dairy protein additive to cheese, ice cream and other finished dairy products made in America 



The current crisis in the American dairy industry has been widely attributed to a decreased consumer spending in the current economic downturn.(xv)

Import statistics, however, clearly show another contributing factor: processors are outsourcing their dairy protein needs to foreign producers of cheap MPC’s, which leaves domestic dairy farmers with a glut of extra nonfat dry milk. 

This surge in MPC imports has been helped by the very low or non-existent tariffs on MPC’s.(xvixvii) Dairy farmers would like to see tariffs increased, to protect their livelihoods and provide some assurance about where dairy ingredients are coming from. 

What You Can Do: 

1. Tell your Congressman and Senator that you support the Specter-Casey bill s.889 because it legislates monitors dairy imports, such as MPC.

2.Check the Label: Look for “milk protein concentrates” on the label of processed 

foods. If you discover MPC, don't buy it --and don't hesitate to let the 

manufacturer and grocery store manager know you don’t want products that 

contain this controversial ingredient. 

2. Urge the FDA to keep the standards of identity strong for dairy products like 

yogurt. 

i Government Accountability Office. “Dairy Products: Imports, Domestic Production, 

and Regulation of Ultra-filtered Milk.” March 2001 

ii Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 2009 at Chapter 4, Note 13

iii Durant, John. Commercial Ruling Division of MPC for United States International 

Trade Commission Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Ruling made on April 5, 

2002 at CAL-2 RR:CR:GC 965396ptl.

iv USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, trade database available at www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade 

v Government Accountability Office. “Dairy Products: Imports, Domestic Production, and Regulation of 

Ultra-filtered Milk.” March 2001. 

vi United States Food and Drug Administration. “FY 2009 Congressional Justification.” 

February 5, 2008 at Foods 21.

vii United States Food and Drug Administration, database of GRAS available at 

http://www.foodsafety.gov/~rdb/opa-gras.html

viii Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration. 

Notices. “GRAS Notice No. GRN 000167.” September 29, 2005. 

ix United States Food and Drug Administration, database of GRAS available at 

http://www.foodsafety.gov/~rdb/opa-gras.html 

x United States Food and Drug Administration, database of EAFUS available at 

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/eafus.htmlxi Government Accountability Office. “Dairy Products: Imports, Domestic Production, and Regulation of 

Ultra-filtered Milk.” March 2001 at 2. 

xii Government Accountability Office. “Dairy Products: Imports, Domestic Production, and Regulation of Ultra-filtered Milk.” March 2001 at 2. 

xiii USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, trade database available at www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade 

xiv USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, trade database available at www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade 

xv Martin, Andrew. “As recession deepens, so does surplus.” New York Times. January 1, 2009. 



xvi Bailey, K.W. “Estimation of the Protein Content of US Imports 

of Milk Protein Concentrates.” Journal of Dairy Science. 2003 at 4155. 

xvii Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. 2008 at VI, 35-3 

Media Release from Congressman Arcuri - 24th District

Office of U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri

Representing New York’s 24^th Congressional District

 

 

MEDIA RELEASE

 

Thursday, May 14, 2009

 

CONTACT: Jay Biba (Arcuri)

jay.biba@mail.house.gov            

202-225-3665 office                                      

202-329-6831 cell         

 

Stephanie Valle (McHugh)

stephanie.valle@mail.house.gov           

202-225-4611 office

202-834-0472 cell         

 

                                                                       

                                                                                                      

ARCURI, MCHUGH LEAD BI-PARTISAN EFFORT TO FIGHT FOR UPSTATE NEW YORK DAIRY FARMERS

Northeast Democratic and Republican Congressmen Join Forces for Dairy Industry

 

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Reps. Michael A. Arcuri (NY-24) and John M. McHugh (NY-23) led a bipartisan group of 23 members of Congress today in calling on U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to address rising production costs facing small dairy farms across Upstate New York.

 

“Our dairy farmers need help, and it is imperative to our Upstate economy that they stay in business,” Arcuri said. “The thousands of small business dairy farms and their employees cannot wait for the crisis in the dairy industry to fix itself.  We are demanding swift and effective action from the federal government  to allow dairy farmers to remain competitive and continue to feed families across Upstate New York and the entire Northeast region”

 

“As a lifelong resident of Northern New York, I know how critical our dairy farms and families are to our economy and the fabric of our local communities.  It is imperative that the federal government act quickly to deal with what has become an untenable situation that has the potential to force our dairy farmers out of business.   I will continue to work with my Congressional colleagues to urge Secretary Vilsack to address the rising cost in production and readjust the federal milk order pricing system,” said McHugh.

 

The global dairy industry has experienced a freefall in the price of milk because of the worldwide economic recession and fewer dairy exports overseas.  At the beginning of 2009, milk prices fell drastically due to an oversupply of milk on the market.  The amount of excess milk has since been reduced, but prices have yet to rebound.

 

Last year, Arcuri and McHugh successfully fought to include better dairy price supports in the 2008 Farm Bill by adding a feed cost adjuster to the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program. This provision ties MILC support to what struggling dairy farmers pay for their feed, so that MILC payments increase as the cost of feed rises. 

Northeast Congressman - 23 from 11 states Take Dairy Action

Below is the text of the letter from 23 Congressman from 11 states  to U.S. Secretaryo of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack

The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250

 

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

 

As Members of Congress representing this nation’s farmers, we write to you in deep concern over the state of this country’s dairy market. As you know, the May 2009 Class I milk base price is $10.97 per hundredweight (cwt). This rate is not sufficient for our milk producers to even recoup their costs of production, and therefore we respectfully request that you re-evaluate and amend the federal milk order pricing system to take into account the cost of production when setting milk prices.

 

Virtually all sectors of our economy have struggled in recent months to move forward and experience earnings that would, at the very least, keep businesses afloat and jobs from being cut. The dairy business is not exempt from this effort. However, this industry has its unique challenges and characteristics which make it extremely prone to changes in supply and demand, the slightest of which contribute to wide fluctuations in price. Prices fell nearly $5 per cwt in one month alone at the start of the year due to an oversupply of milk on the market, and have maintained their low levels ever since. Yet figures indicate that there roughly remains only an excess of 3% of product on the market. These patterns are not specific to the past six months, but rather mirror price increases and decreases from recent years.

 

While cost of production calculations may not have an immediate or direct impact on curbing dairy’s supply and demand volatility, controlling for these expenses from the outset would reduce the government’s obligation to support dairy later on as prices suddenly tumble and farmers are thrown into the red. We commend your leadership in resuming timely payments to producers under the MILC program to help the neediest farmers. However, we ask that you assess methods for setting milk prices accounting for regional costs of production to mitigate the need for government intervention and widespread subsidies, and lessen the impact of future market declines.

 

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to working with you to address these issues in our nation’s agriculture and improve conditions for our dairy industry.

 

Sincerely,

 

Michael A. Arcuri

John McHugh

Peter Welch (D-VT)

Michael H. Michaud (D-ME)

Joe Courtney (D-CT)

Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)

Bill Shuster (R-PA)

Dan Maffei (D-NY)

Brian Higgins (D-NY)

John Hall (D-NY)

Tim Holden (D-PA)

Christopher P. Carney (D-PA)

Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD)

Paul Tonko (D-NY)

Eric Massa (D-NY)

Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT)

Paul W. Hodes (D-NH)

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)

Chris Lee (R-NY)

James R. Langevin (D-RI)

Chellie Pingree (D-ME)

Glenn Thompson (R-PA)

Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)