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Yes!
House approves bill to shutter horsemeat industry
By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News
(MCT)
WASHINGTON - Horse lovers won a huge victory Thursday when the House voted overwhelmingly to shut down the horsemeat industry.
Farm and ranch groups oppose the ban, arguing that slaughterhouses in Kaufman and Fort Worth, Texas, and DeKalb, Ill., provide a valuable service by processing 90,000 unwanted, though mostly healthy, animals each year.
"What we are exposing today is a brutal, shadowy, predatory shameful practice that borders on the perverse," said Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., an author of the bill. "It reflects on our culture. It reflects on our priorities."
Animal rights groups have worked for years to shut down the plants, which sell 18,000 tons of meat worth $61 million each year, mostly to France, Belgium and Japan. And they found allies across the political spectrum, pulling off a lopsided 263-146 win.
The fate of the ban now rests in the Senate. Big majorities there have voted to shut down the industry in past years, but lawmakers have only a month before going on recess for the November elections.
The industry-backed Horse Welfare Coalition expressed disappointment at the House vote but predicted the ban would fail in the Senate, thanks in part to last-minute opposition by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. He called the slaughterhouses more humane than alternatives faced by unwanted horses.
"The best interest of horses and American agriculture was lost today," said Charlie Stenholm, a former West Texas congressman who lobbies for the slaughterhouses.
The anti-slaughter cause had the support of celebrities including Willie Nelson, Clint Eastwood, William Shatner and Mary Tyler Moore. Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens testified for the ban and helped bankroll an ad campaign. Actress Bo Derek watched the three-hour debate in the House gallery.
Opponents of the ban included groups of horse doctors, quarter horse owners, farmers, ranchers and county officials.
House energy and commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he'd heard from hundreds of people on both sides, and concluded that banning slaughter would lead to "a miserable existence for thousands of horses" and would amount to "an outright attack on animal agriculture."
Defenders of the industry emphasized that the slaughterhouses are federally inspected and regulated. They argued that horse sanctuaries and rescue organizations are stretched too thin to cope with more unwanted horses. The federal government spends $50 million a year to care for 20,000 wild horses that have been removed from public lands.
Advocates of the ban called the House vote historic and noted that horse owners could still euthanize unwanted animals, personally or by paying a veterinarian.
The argument fell flat with House Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. "Apparently the alternative to death is, well, death," he said. "They're worrying about what happens to the meat once the animal is euthanized."
His committee had quashed efforts for years to close down the industry. The bill was rewritten to fall under Barton's jurisdiction, and even though the Texan opposed it, he acceded to House leaders' demand for a floor debate.
"The House today took us one giant step closer to halting the barbaric and needless slaughter of American horses for foreign consumers," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. He predicted "a heavy lift" to get Senate approval.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, a member of the GOP leadership, said Senate action is unlikely before the recess. Spokeswoman Jamie Loftus said Hutchison hadn't decided whether to support the ban.
Sen. John Cornyn, also of Texas, opposes the ban. Spokesman Brian Walsh said the lawmaker was concerned about owners' rights and believed the industry would simply shift "to foreign factories which treat horses even less humanely."
In the House debate, a parade of Democrats - most of whom supported the ban - taunted Republicans for even scheduling the debate, the only substantive issue the House has dealt with since returning this week from a month-long recess. They accused Republicans of trying to divert attention from a stagnant minimum wage, high gas prices and failures in Iraq.
"I'm for the horsies too. I'll vote for it," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., but "I can't believe that we are here today using the very limited time left to this Congress to deal with horsemeat."
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland alleged that the main motive was helping Sweeney, the co-author, who is in a tough race in a district that includes the Saratoga Springs horse track.
With the Sept. 11 anniversary nearing, he said, the public expects Congress to tackle weightier matters. "I am concerned about horses, but I am much, much more concerned about the American people," Hoyer said.
The issue broke more along urban-rural lines than by party. Republicans split almost evenly. Democrats backed the ban 5-to-1.
Opponents of the ban tried unsuccessfully to kill the legislation with amendments to undermine its impact. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, offered an exemption for Indian tribes and any other culture with a history of eating horsemeat - a provision he conceded would apply to France, Belgium and Japan, effectively allowing the existing plants, all foreign-owned, to continue operating.
"People in support of this bill have a romantic view of the horse," King said. "Lewis and Clark ate horses."
Advocates of a ban offered horrific - and disputed - descriptions of how horses are treated en route to and at the slaughterhouses. One warned that if Congress rejected a ban, it would be signing off on "Barbaro burgers," referring to this year's Kentucky Derby winner. Another invoked the way Ferdinand, a previous Derby winner, was slaughtered several years ago in Japan, the meat marketed as the opportunity to "eat an American champion."
"When you see a horse galloping gracefully across the plains, that's not a commodity. That's an inspiration," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. "There's no reason to be slaughtering horses."
By Todd J. Gillman
The Dallas Morning News
(MCT)
WASHINGTON - Horse lovers won a huge victory Thursday when the House voted overwhelmingly to shut down the horsemeat industry.
Farm and ranch groups oppose the ban, arguing that slaughterhouses in Kaufman and Fort Worth, Texas, and DeKalb, Ill., provide a valuable service by processing 90,000 unwanted, though mostly healthy, animals each year.
"What we are exposing today is a brutal, shadowy, predatory shameful practice that borders on the perverse," said Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., an author of the bill. "It reflects on our culture. It reflects on our priorities."
Animal rights groups have worked for years to shut down the plants, which sell 18,000 tons of meat worth $61 million each year, mostly to France, Belgium and Japan. And they found allies across the political spectrum, pulling off a lopsided 263-146 win.
The fate of the ban now rests in the Senate. Big majorities there have voted to shut down the industry in past years, but lawmakers have only a month before going on recess for the November elections.
The industry-backed Horse Welfare Coalition expressed disappointment at the House vote but predicted the ban would fail in the Senate, thanks in part to last-minute opposition by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. He called the slaughterhouses more humane than alternatives faced by unwanted horses.
"The best interest of horses and American agriculture was lost today," said Charlie Stenholm, a former West Texas congressman who lobbies for the slaughterhouses.
The anti-slaughter cause had the support of celebrities including Willie Nelson, Clint Eastwood, William Shatner and Mary Tyler Moore. Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens testified for the ban and helped bankroll an ad campaign. Actress Bo Derek watched the three-hour debate in the House gallery.
Opponents of the ban included groups of horse doctors, quarter horse owners, farmers, ranchers and county officials.
House energy and commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said he'd heard from hundreds of people on both sides, and concluded that banning slaughter would lead to "a miserable existence for thousands of horses" and would amount to "an outright attack on animal agriculture."
Defenders of the industry emphasized that the slaughterhouses are federally inspected and regulated. They argued that horse sanctuaries and rescue organizations are stretched too thin to cope with more unwanted horses. The federal government spends $50 million a year to care for 20,000 wild horses that have been removed from public lands.
Advocates of the ban called the House vote historic and noted that horse owners could still euthanize unwanted animals, personally or by paying a veterinarian.
The argument fell flat with House Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. "Apparently the alternative to death is, well, death," he said. "They're worrying about what happens to the meat once the animal is euthanized."
His committee had quashed efforts for years to close down the industry. The bill was rewritten to fall under Barton's jurisdiction, and even though the Texan opposed it, he acceded to House leaders' demand for a floor debate.
"The House today took us one giant step closer to halting the barbaric and needless slaughter of American horses for foreign consumers," said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. He predicted "a heavy lift" to get Senate approval.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, a member of the GOP leadership, said Senate action is unlikely before the recess. Spokeswoman Jamie Loftus said Hutchison hadn't decided whether to support the ban.
Sen. John Cornyn, also of Texas, opposes the ban. Spokesman Brian Walsh said the lawmaker was concerned about owners' rights and believed the industry would simply shift "to foreign factories which treat horses even less humanely."
In the House debate, a parade of Democrats - most of whom supported the ban - taunted Republicans for even scheduling the debate, the only substantive issue the House has dealt with since returning this week from a month-long recess. They accused Republicans of trying to divert attention from a stagnant minimum wage, high gas prices and failures in Iraq.
"I'm for the horsies too. I'll vote for it," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., but "I can't believe that we are here today using the very limited time left to this Congress to deal with horsemeat."
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland alleged that the main motive was helping Sweeney, the co-author, who is in a tough race in a district that includes the Saratoga Springs horse track.
With the Sept. 11 anniversary nearing, he said, the public expects Congress to tackle weightier matters. "I am concerned about horses, but I am much, much more concerned about the American people," Hoyer said.
The issue broke more along urban-rural lines than by party. Republicans split almost evenly. Democrats backed the ban 5-to-1.
Opponents of the ban tried unsuccessfully to kill the legislation with amendments to undermine its impact. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, offered an exemption for Indian tribes and any other culture with a history of eating horsemeat - a provision he conceded would apply to France, Belgium and Japan, effectively allowing the existing plants, all foreign-owned, to continue operating.
"People in support of this bill have a romantic view of the horse," King said. "Lewis and Clark ate horses."
Advocates of a ban offered horrific - and disputed - descriptions of how horses are treated en route to and at the slaughterhouses. One warned that if Congress rejected a ban, it would be signing off on "Barbaro burgers," referring to this year's Kentucky Derby winner. Another invoked the way Ferdinand, a previous Derby winner, was slaughtered several years ago in Japan, the meat marketed as the opportunity to "eat an American champion."
"When you see a horse galloping gracefully across the plains, that's not a commodity. That's an inspiration," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. "There's no reason to be slaughtering horses."