Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1754, the Horseracing Integrity Act, and the really amazing, relentless work that my colleagues, Paul Tonko and Mr. Barr, have exerted all session this year, last year, the year before, to make this a reality.

Madam Speaker, compromise is often hard to find. And the number of stakeholders that have been involved has made it even more complicated but, finally, successful. This legislation is the result of that compromise. The amendment includes such important improvements in establishing safety, not only for the equine athletes, our horses, but also for the jockeys.

Madam Speaker, you have heard a lot from both of the chief sponsors on this legislation, but I want to say that this bill will help achieve our overarching goal to protect the health and welfare of our racehorses and jockeys while strengthening the integrity of the sport itself, which is so important.

Madam Speaker, I want to emphasize something that Mr. Tonko was talking about, because let's not forget why we are here. Racehorses in the United States are injured at a much higher rate than the rest of the horse-racing world, resulting in nearly 500 horses dying every year.

One of the keys to stopping injuries and deaths is establishing strong drug policies, training, and racing protocols and racetrack standards. Standards like pre-race detection and appropriate treatment for injuries. The stress and pressure generated by an 1,100-pound animal sprinting down the track at, sometimes a rate of up to 40 miles an hour, can cause minor injuries to become fatal breaks.

Madam Speaker, as a former horse owner myself, and my horse came from a track not among the names that Mr. Barr listed--actually, he was probably thrown off the track, he wasn't very good--and came to the barn that I would go to. And I had the pleasure of having some years of the rest of his life for him to be my horse--BJ Sullivan.

He would take me down the paths in the forest preserve and he also helped me learn how to jump over fences, not too high, but pretty well. And I think sometimes, until this piece of legislation, maybe he was kind of lucky not to be one of the winners, and not to be one of the ones who would be drugged and not protected. And as the stand-in jockey, I was pretty safe on the back of BJ Sullivan, who was very honest when it came to jumping over fences.

Madam Speaker, I am very, very proud today. Rather than treating the underlying conditions, some racehorses are given pain medications to ease their pain, and the pain medications mask the relatively minor injuries that could actually become much more serious.

This legislation, as you heard in detail, I think is the kind of legislation that is really going to enhance the industry and enhance the safety of riders, of jockeys, as well as our horses.

Madam Speaker, I am so proud to be a cosponsor of the bill, and I thank our lead sponsors.

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