What you can do to help pass the Safeguard American Food Export Act of 2013 in the U.S. Senate S.541 and House of Representatives HR.1094:
WRITE A HAND WRITTEN LETTER TODAY!
If your Senators or Representative have not co-sponsored the S.A.F.E. Act of 2013, it is EXTREMELY important to CALL your SENATORS to support S.541 and your REPRESENTATIVE to support HR.1094 in their DC offices. You may never get a returned call from the politician and less likely to talk to them directly when you call. Ask to speak to the legislative aide assigned to these bills and leave a message. You are more likely to get a call back from the legislative aide than your elected official.
President Barack Obama signs H.R. 2751, the “FDA Food Safety Modernization Act,” in the Oval Office, Jan. 4, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) License on Flickr (2011-01-12): United States Government Work Flickr tags: WASHINGTON, DC, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This issue is about food safety and not about animal welfare. If you start talking about how in-humane it is, they won’t listen, so you MUST talk about the potential toxicity because horses are NOT raised in the food pipeline. Can a cattle rancher send cattle to slaughter if it’s not raised in the food pipeline? — NO!
Why should horses be added after they are grown? All animals raised in the food pipeline are not allowed to be given certain drugs or treatments and there is no way to ensure that horses not raised in the food pipeline are free from those products. They can not test a live horse – they must slaughter it first before they can test it (yes I know, very upsetting). This means tax dollars will be wasted if the carcass tests positive for the tested banned substances and another horse will be dead.
If you are not sure what to say, take a look at the comments in support of S.541 on popvox.com link below. Don’t use the arguments that discuss in-humane slaughter because this is a bill about FOOD SAFETY and export of horses to slaughter not raised for food. Make a short list about what you are going to say – practice saying it a few times until you feel confident about what you are going to say.
Review the statements made by organizations in opposition. If you are a member of one of these organizations and disagree with their opposition, let them know you disagree with their position.
ORGS OPPOSING
Log in to govtracks.us and comment in Support of HR1094 at: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1094#comments
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List of Senators that have co-sponsored:
Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]
Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA]
Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE]
Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] (deceased)
Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]
Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK]
Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Sen. Durbin, Richard [D-IL]
Sen. Kirk, Mark Steven [R-IL]
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA]
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI]
Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI]
Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI]
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
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List of Representatives who have co-sponsored:
On November 12, 2014, ONE more Senator and TWO more Representatives have cosponsored:
S541:
Sen Hirono, Mazie K. [HI] – 11/12/2014
HR1094:
Rep Dent, Charles W. [PA-15] – 11/12/2014
Rep Pierluisi, Pedro R. [PR] – 11/12/2014
Hippies for Horses 