Where Candidates for President Stand on Horse Slaughter
Now that the national political conventions for the 2020 presidential elections on November 3 have wrapped, we wanted to look at where the recently nominated candidates and their running mates stand on the issue of banning horse slaughter. Since the introduction of our very first bill to ban horse slaughter in 2002, there have been several different versions before Congress, all with the same goal of ending horse slaughter. All of the bills have enjoyed strong bipartisan backing in Congress and overwhelming public support from all parts of the country.
Both candidates and their vice presidential nominees have a record on the issue of banning horse slaughter on the federal level, though some more defined than others.
Let's start with the Democratic ticket of Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). Both Democrats have served or currently serve in the US Senate where there has been a bill to ban horse slaughter for many years. In 2005 during the 109th Congress, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and the US Senate where then Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) was one of cosponsors of this bill to ban horse slaughter in the Senate. Also, that year, Senator Biden voted with 69 of his colleagues for the first “defund amendment” to the annual Agriculture Appropriations bill that was offered to block the inspections of horse slaughter facilities by the USDA, an amendment that has kept horse slaughter facilities shuttered for 15 years. An amendment we have had to offer every year since. In 2007, during the 110th Congress, Senator Biden again cosponsored the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, along with former President Barack Obama. The next Congress, Senator Biden retired from the US Senate to serve as Vice President to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017. Vice President Biden and the Obama administration supported the defund amendment and eventually included the language in their annual budget to Congress. VP Biden even lent his support to the annual amendment by reaching out to his former colleagues in the Senate urging passage of the amendment when it was considered in the Appropriations Committee.
Senator Kamala Harris is currently serving her first term in the US Senate having entered in 2017 at the start of the 115th Congress. While her tenure in the chamber is short, she did cosponsor the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act her first year in the Senate. While the Senate has continued to vote on the annual “defund amendment” those votes have taken place in the Appropriations Committee, so Senator Harris had no opportunity to vote on that as Vice President Biden did.
On Thursday, the Republican National Convention wrapped up after four nights, so let's zero in on the two candidates renominated to lead the Republican ticket for President and Vice President of the United States.
President Donald Trump has no previous political experience, so it is impossible to trace his direct action on efforts to ban horse slaughter. However, like the Obama administration, the Trump administration also included our annual language defunding horse slaughter inspections in their budgets to Congress. While not binding, by including this language in his budget it signals to Congress support for retaining this important annual effort to keep horse slaughter out of the US.
Before becoming Vice President, Mike Pence served in the US House of Representatives from 2001-2013 where he also was a cosponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in 2003 during the 108th Congress. In 2005, Rep. Pence voted in support of the first horse slaughter “defund amendment” when the amendment was offered on the floor of the House of Representatives. During the remainder of his time in Congress however, Rep. Pence did not cosponsor or vote for any further bills to ban horse slaughter.
This is a quick and abbreviated examination of the candidate's legislative history on our campaign to ban horse slaughter. There is also some nuance when it comes to politics and support for legislation in Congress. However, as you can see, given the almost 20-year history of our effort to ban horse slaughter we are able to get a good look at both candidates for president and their running mates. While all have some history on the issue, it is important to dig deeper into each person's record on all animal protection issue in and out of Congress. Vice President Biden and Senator Harris have well established records supporting a myriad of animal protection issues while serving in the Senate. On the other hand, Vice President Pence rarely supported any animal protection legislation during his time in the House of Representatives. As mentioned earlier, President Trump has no previous legislative history so we can’t really be sure on how he would stand on issues related to animal protection. However, we can and should examine the policies that have taken place towards animals and the environment during his time in office when coming to a conclusion on his overall record.
While this post focuses on the presidential election, be sure to take similar considerations into mind when voting for local, state and federal candidates. Remember, every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection this November along with a portion of the US Senate.
Many will have taken positions for or against horse slaughter as well. If we are to pass legislation banning horse slaughter and advancing animal welfare issues in general, we must elect politicians who take these issues seriously and know that their constituents vote depending on how they stand on them.
Visit our action center to send an email to your Representative and Senators urging them to support the SAFE Act. Let them know that their support on this bill is something you will consider in November.