Providing for Consideration of H.R. 503, American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 503, AMERICAN HORSE SLAUGHTER PREVENTION ACT -- (House of Representatives - September 07, 2006)
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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from Florida, for yielding me this time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Ms. MATSUI asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, the rule before the House would make in order H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. This bill has the support of 203 bipartisan co-sponsors, myself included. Passing this bill will end the cruel and barbaric practice of horse slaughter. It will ensure that horses are treated humanely up until their deaths, which is a goal that both supporters and opponents of the legislation can support. It will also improve conditions for living horses.
In my home State of California, for example, we have experienced no increase in cases of horse abuse or neglect since we banned their slaughter in 1998. Horse theft cases in California have declined by 35 percent since then as well.
Simply put, horses are an integral part of our country's culture and history. They do not deserve to be slaughtered in the brutal conditions which they must currently endure before death. American horses deserve better treatment.
But the American people deserve better treatment as well. Unfortunately, the Republican majority in Congress appears focused exclusively on issues which do little to improve the lives of Americans.
A few days ago, we celebrated Labor Day. Yet it is clear that people who work for a living have very little to celebrate. The minimum wage remains unchanged. Our constituents face ever-rising energy prices. Seniors continue to be burdened with high costs for prescription drugs. College graduates are saddled with debt. Other young people cannot afford to attend college at all. And nearly 5 years to the day after September 11, our Nation is still not secure.
These are some of the pressing and critical problems the American people deal with on a daily basis. Congress could easily devote an entire week to each issue, and yet we find ourselves procrastinating. Instead of addressing these challenges that confront our constituents, real issues that impact real people, the majority has chosen to authorize commemorative coins. This Congress cannot bring itself to allow a clean vote to help hardworking Americans by raising the minimum wage, though not for lack of Democratic proposals to do so. My colleague, Congressman George Miller, has introduced a bill that will raise the minimum wage for the first time in nearly a decade, and Congressman Hoyer's amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill will do the same.
Unfortunately, these sensible proposals to give working families a boost have either been stalled by the Republican leadership or loaded with poison pills to ensure that Americans go yet another year without a minimum wage increase. We owe it to the hardworking voters who send us to Washington to increase the minimum wage before we adjourn. Instead, the leadership has turned our attention to horses.
The majority also refuses to take action to combat skyrocketing energy costs. Democrats have advocated for an innovative and strategic national energy policy, one which rolls back tax breaks for oil companies and invests the savings in alternative fuel sources. Not only will such action lower energy costs over the long term, but it will also help our Nation break our dependence on foreign oil.
The American people deserve an energy policy that is responsible, innovative, and independent. Dozens of promising proposals for such a policy have been introduced, proposals which could be brought to the floor today. However, the leadership has decided instead to use one of our few remaining legislative days to debate horses.
Even before this energy crisis, the steady rise in health costs threatened to drive many middle-class families out of our health care system altogether. Most of the 3 million people who have lost health coverage since 2002 make over $50,000 per year, and some make over $75,000 per year. This figure is frightening, for it indicates that high insurance costs are affecting more and more Americans. Additionally, seniors have already begun to hit the ``doughnut hole'' in the Medicare prescription drug program, which has forced them to bear thousands of dollars in unexpected costs.
The Democratic plan for the future gives the Federal Government the freedom to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. It also provides millions of American families with urgently needed health insurance. We owe it to our constituents to reform the health care system to make it more affordable before we adjourn.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that this Congress has done little to help American seniors. Sadly, younger Americans have not fared much better. The Republican leadership has left our Nation's students saddled with ever-growing amounts of student loan debt.
Democrats have offered a new direction for higher education, centered on expanding Pell grants and restoring the $12 billion in cuts to student aid which Republicans passed earlier this year. This will ease the debt burden for recent graduates and put the dream of a college education within reach for more young Americans. We owe it to our students and to the families who support them to increase tuition assistance before we adjourn. However, the leadership has ignored this opportunity to make higher education accessible and affordable. Instead, the majority has decided to take another long weekend, with no votes scheduled on Monday or Friday.
As we can see, the list of misplaced priorities in the 109th Congress is long. However, perhaps none is as disappointing or as dangerous as Congress's refusal to secure our homeland. The majority has refused to fully implement all the recommendations of the September 11 commission. In doing so, it has left unnecessary holes in national security and has failed to fulfill its primary responsibility to ensure America's safety.
Before we adjourn for the year, Congress must secure our borders, and we must do more to protect our ports and airports. Democrats have offered legislation to do so, legislation which will also provide our first responders with the resources they need to respond to a terrorist attack or other national emergency.
These proposals to protect American lives and families are on the table, and Democrats stand ready to pass them with the help of our Republican colleagues. And yet as we return from a month-long break, we have been presented with a paper-thin legislative agenda. This week's schedule illustrates how out of touch this Chamber's leadership is from American families and the problems they face every day.
As a result, on the floor of the House of Representatives this week, we will focus on improving the welfare of America's horses. What we should be doing is improving the welfare of America's people.
My Democratic colleagues and I have offered a new direction, a plan to raise the minimum wage, ease our reliance on foreign energy sources, lower prescription drug prices, make college more affordable, and strengthen our Nation's security to combat terrorists.
We will continue to fight to pass this package of urgent national legislation, and we await the cooperation of Republican colleagues to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I would urge all Members to support the rule and the underlying bill. Congress should do the right thing for America's horses by ending the cruel practice of horse slaughter.
But, Mr. Speaker, there are a larger set of priorities which must be addressed. The American worker deserves an increase in the minimum wage, and our Nation's seniors deserve lower prescription drug prices. Almost 5 years after September 11, failing to secure America's ports and airports is unconscionable.
Democrats are committed to staying here until these priorities are accomplished. I would urge all my colleagues to join us in this effort.
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