I would like to first commend my colleagues Congressman Sweeney and Congressman Spratt for taking the lead on H.R. 503, the ultimate solution to the pressing issue of horse slaughter in America.

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

     When Americans picture the West, I doubt they envision wild horses being rounded up and sent to commercial slaughter houses to be processed into cuisine for foreign gourmets.

     Yet that is the consequence of a provision inserted in a must-pass appropriations bill last year. As it stands, today the Bureau of Land Management can essentially turn a blind eye to individuals or corporations who buy these animals with the clear intention of cruelly slaughtering them for profit.

     Unfortunately, the past is prologue.

     The law protecting these wild beauties was enacted in response to public outcry, including a massive, heartfelt lobbying effort by our youngest citizens. And it is our responsibility to preserve these icons of the American West for future generations.I know that the federal government has a mediocre record in enforcing wild horse and burro protection laws. But instead of addressing these long-term and widespread management problems, the recent change is simply a quick and dirty fix.

     This reversal in public policy warrants public debate, and my legislation offers that opportunity. Had the appropriations provision received that debate, I do not think it would have been rubber stamped by the Congress.

     The current slaughter policy does not acknowledge the fact that humane alternatives exist. Federal agencies have the authority to carry out such actions as adoption, sterilization, relocation, and placement with qualified individuals and organizations.