It wasn't long ago that animal protection rarely got
mentioned in Congress. Now, almost every office has a staff member
assigned to handle animal issues, and as a result, The HSUS and
other humane organizations continue to see a wide diversity of
important bills introduced in the House and Senate. That has
particularly been the case during the 107th Congress, which this
session has grappled with issues ranging from the enforcement of the
Animal Welfare Act to the Defense Department's request to skirt
animal welfare and environmental laws.
The 107th Congress responded to public concerns by providing
record funding for various animal protection programs, including the
long-overdue enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane
Slaughter Act. The House and Senate also passed a massive Farm Bill,
ultimately a disappointing piece of legislation for animal activists
despite one major victory. The HSUS had worked hard to add a record
number of animal-protection provisions to the legislation, and we
met with great success when the House and Senate took up their
versions of the Farm Bill.
Unfortunately, a conference committee—which works to reconcile
the differences between the House and Senate bills on the same
subject—knocked out provisions that would have protected "downed
animals," dogs mistreated at puppy mills, and bears killed for their
internal organs. Conferees did accept a provision to close a
loophole in the Animal Welfare Act on the interstate shipment of
gamecocks and the export of fighting birds and dogs, a significant
victory that was three years in the making.
But the game's not over for the 107th Congress, and we continue
to keep a very detailed scorecard on the players. We know who has
been hitting home runs for animal welfare, and who has been striking
out.
For those keeping score—and every animal activist should be—some
of the heroes of the 107th Congress include Sens. Wayne Allard
(R-CO), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Peter Fitzgerald
(R-IL), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA),
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Harry Reid (D-NV), Rick Santorum (R-PA),
Robert Smith (R-NH), and Paul Wellstone (D-MN), and Reps. Gary
Ackerman (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Peter
DeFazio (D-OR), Sam Farr (D-CA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Wayne
Gilchrest (R-MD), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), George Miller (D-CA),
Connie Morella (R-MD), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Thomas Tancredo
(R-CO), and Edward Whitfield (R-KY).
The poor sports of this session have been few, but they've done
significant damage: Reps. Larry Combest (R-TX) and Charles Stenholm
(D-TX) almost single-handedly gutted the Farm Bill of many
animal-protection provisions, while Sen. Jesse Helms introduced an
amendment (which was accepted) that excludes birds, rats, and mice
from protections under the Animal Welfare Act.
Many important battles remain in the 107th Congress, so while our
list of MVPs could expand, so could our hall of shame. Some of the
issues we're still following include:
- A bill that will prohibit the interstate or foreign commerce
of captive exotic animals to be shot for entertainment or trophies
in "canned hunts."
- A bill to ban the interstate movement of dangerous exotic
animals such as lions and tigers for use as pets.
- Two pieces of legislation derailed by Farm Bill conferees may
come back into play. We are pushing for final passage of the
Downed Animal Protection Act and the Puppy Protection Act.
- An initiative, already approved by a House committee, that
would exempt the Department of Defense from provisions of the
Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the
Wilderness Act in Utah.
This is an important time for many legislators. All 435 seats for
the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate
seats are up for grabs this November. Now is the time when voters
have considerable sway over their elected officials. It's the time
to ask for an explanation of a troublesome vote or to express your
satisfaction with their performance.
"We hope that animal advocates use the scorecard to gauge the
performance of elected officials in Washington, D.C.," states Wayne
Pacelle, senior vice president for communications and government
affairs for The HSUS. "They are public officials, and they need to
hear from their constituents. If they know that citizens back home
are paying attention to animal issues and contacting them about
these important matters, they will respond accordingly."
To view the 2001 Humane Scorecard, download
the PDF.
Several members of Congress have cosponsored scored legislation
since publication of the Humane Scorecard. To see if your
legislators have recently signed onto scored bills, download
the PDF.
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