VA: URGENT: ONE CONGRESSMAN BLOCKS US HOUSE BILL TO BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER

June 23, 2004

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In Defense of Animals

r.e.fazio

Sunday, June 20, 2004 10:37 PM

URGENT: ONE CONGRESSMAN BLOCKS US HOUSE BILL TO BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER

Dear Animal Friend,

URGENT: One Congressman Blocks US House Bill to Ban Horse Slaughter

US Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, Chair of the House Agriculture Committee is the lone person blocking HR 857, The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, from coming out of that committee and to a vote on the House Floor. The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is the legislation that would ban the slaughter of horses in the United States and their export for slaughter to foreign countries. There are 224 co-sponsors of this bill in the US House. A more recently introduced companion bill in the US Senate (S. 2352) currently has 7 co-sponsors.

Although HR 857 has enough votes to pass the House, Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia is preventing this legislation from being moved forward out of committee for a vote. Congressman Goodlatte is appeasing the foreign-owned horse slaughter industry and other special interests that are profiting from the death of American horses in the only 3 horse slaughterhouses in the US. The three slaughter houses in the United States, two in Texas and one in Illinois, all are Belgian and French owned, are protected under free trade agreements and do not even pay export fees. Over half of the US House supports this bill and it would pass if it could come to a floor for a vote but this one Congressman is preventing this. We are running out of time. Do not let Mr. Goodlatte kill this bill. Please act immediately.

Here is Rep. Goodlatte's cosponsorship status on our key legislation.

http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/sponsortrack/?id=604

1. Please write, fax, and call Mr. Goodlatte at both his district and DC offices demanding that he release HR 857 out of his committee for a full vote on the house floor. Demand that Mr. Goodlatte remove himself immediately from HR 857 and let elected Representatives of the people across the United States vote on HR 857.

2. Forward this alert to all of your contacts. Ask family, friends, relatives, and neighbors to do the same.

3. If you have friends and family in Virginia who are constituents of Mr. Goodlatte or if you are from Virginia, immediately call and fax his office and continue to call and fax until Mr. Goodlatte releases HR 857 from the Agriculture Committee. Let Mr. Goodlatte know that you will not re-elect him if he kills this bill in his committee.

Over half of Congress is co-sponsoring this legislation. We are running out of time to get this bill passed. If one person kills it in Committee, it will never get to a vote on the floor where it would pass.

Contact information for Virginia Congressman, Bob Goodlatte:

Washington, DC Office:

2240 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2171 Fax: (202) 225-9617

EMAIL WEB SITE:

http://congress.org/congressorg/mail/compose/?opt-out=0 & target=NH & state=VA & qstate=VA & id=604 & mailid.1=6016411 & client_id.1=congressorg & mailid.2=5036171 & client_id.2=congressorg & mailid.3=2811731 & client_id.3=congressorg & select_message=4 & mailid.4=custom & client_id.4=congressorg

District Offices

Staunton Office: 7 Court Square Staunton, VA 24401 Phone: (540) 885-3861 Fax: (540) 885-3930

Harrisonburg Office: 2 South Main Street, Suite A, First Floor Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Phone: (540) 432-2391 Fax: (540) 432-6593

Lynchburg Office: 916 Main Street, Suite 300 Lynchburg, VA 24504 Phone: (434) 845-8306 Fax: (434) 845-8245

Roanoke Office: 10 Franklin Road, SE; Suite 540 Roanoke, VA 24011 Phone: (540) 857-2672 Fax: (540) 857-2675

*****SAMPLE LETTER*****

Subject:Release HR 857 for a Vote

Dear Rep. GoodlatteJune 16, 2004Please release HR857 for a vote. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act will prevent horse slaughter for "human" consumption.It has been co-sponsored by a majority of the House(224). The vast majority of Americans support this bill.It is your "duty" to serve the American public, who are opposed to horse slaughter for human consumption, and not the special interest groups who support it.REMEMBER THE ANIMALS, THEY CAN'T VOTE, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM DO!

Sincerely,

Your Name

Your address-----For more information on horse slaughter, please visit the following websites:

http://www.saplonline.org/Legislation/ahpa.htm http://www.horse-protection.org/

PLEASE CROSSPOST THIS MESSAGE EVERYWHERE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMPASSION FOR OUR EQUINE FRIENDS.