Sadly, we are here today because 41 wild horses have been slaughtered in the last week, thanks to a provision slipped into a must-pass spending bill late last year.

     We feared this would happen, but we prayed that it would not.

     Unfortunately, the merchants of slaughter will not give up.

     Those involved in the slaughter of wild horses and burros have blood on their hands, and what has transpired is a wake up call to the Congress.

     We now have graphic evidence as to why immediate action should be taken on my legislation to restore the ban on the commercial sale for slaughter of our Nation's wild horse heritage.

     The legislation, which Congressman Whitfield and I have introduced, H.R. 297, aims to restore the protection of wild horses and burros from senseless death.

     When Americans picture the West, I doubt they envision wild horses being rounded up and sent to commercial slaughterhouses to be processed into cuisine for foreign gourmets.Americans have long expected that wild horses and burros would be protected and taken care of. The fact that they are now being slaughtered is a betrayal of the public trust.

     The Bureau of Land Management tried to sell these animals to buyers who pledged to keep them from the slaughterhouses.

     Unfortunately, those pledges have no legal standing. It is as if the BLM tossed a coin into a fountain, wishing for the humane treatment of the horses.

     The original law that protected these wild beauties was enacted in 1971 in response to public outcry, including a massive, heartfelt lobbying effort by our youngest citizens. It is our responsibility to restore the law to its original purpose, to preserve these icons of the American West for future generations.

     In the last few days, the Ford Motor company has stepped in to provide financial assistance to the BLM to buy back some of the horses waiting in line to be slaughtered.

     I commend their efforts - but we cannot depend on corporate citizens to bail the federal government out of its responsibility to protect these animals. The answer is not financial, but rather a matter of restoring the ban on the commercial slaughter, a ban that existed for 34 years, until it was summarily disposed of last November.

     This issue has transcended party and State lines. Fellow horse lovers from California, to my home State of West Virginia, to the coasts of Maine, have joined together to save not only wild horses, but all horses, from inhumane slaughter.

     And I will continue to fight alongside my colleagues to ensure the decent and humane treatment of these animals.

     Thank you.