September 29, 2009
January Jones Goes to Washington
BY: Emily Fisher
On this week’s episode of “Mad Men,” Betty Draper makes her first foray into the peculiar world of politics. And this week, the actress who portrays her, January Jones, is doing the same here in Washington. Only instead of campaigning to stop a hideous water tower’s construction, she’s campaigning for a nobler cause (we think): sharks. Jones is meeting with key members of Congress, including Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and John McCain (R-AZ), to urge them to pass the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 and to push for U.S. leadership on international shark conservation.The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 would put an end to shark finning, which is the process of cutting off the fins and discarding the carcass at sea. The bill would require all sharks caught in U.S. waters to be landed with their fins naturally attached and close other loopholes in existing law.The Act was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in April. Similar legislation (H.R. 81), introduced by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), passed the House of Representatives in March.Learn more about Oceana’s campaign to safeguard sharks and its partnership with January Jones at www.oceana.org/scaredforsharks.