Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 11:24 PM
Subject: [againstslaughter] Humane Scorecard Available
Special Humane Scorecard Report --- March 16, 2004
A Project of The Humane Society of the U.S. and The Fund for Animals http://www.humanelines.org/
HUMANE SCORECARD AVAILABLE!
TAKE STOCK OF ANIMAL ISSUES IN THE U.S. CONGRESS
The annual Humane Scorecard, a joint publication of The Humane Society of the
United States and The Fund for Animals, is now ready! The latest Humane
Scorecard provides a midterm report on the 108th Congress by showing how your
federal legislators stood on important animal issues in 2003 and early 2004 and
what pending legislation still awaits resolution in the remaining months.
During the period covered by the scorecard, legislators on the Hill were given a
chance to act on a wide spectrum of animal protection issues, including animal
fighting, downed animals, bear baiting, and oil/gas development in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Congress made progress on a number of fronts, enacting
a law to prohibit interstate commerce of tigers and other big cats for the pet
trade and providing meaningful funding for enforcement of animal welfare
programs, such as the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter
Act. It did, however, leave several other important issues unresolved, including
measures to establish felony penalties for animal fighting and to ban the
slaughter of horses for human consumption.
The Humane Scorecard assigns legislators a score based on their record of animal
protection votes, their co-sponsorship of key bills, and their signature on a
group letter seeking animal welfare enforcement funding. Overall, in the Senate,
Democrats averaged a score of 74.3%, while Republicans on average scored 16.9%.
In the House, Democrats scored 72.6% on average, while House Republicans
averaged 26.7%. Members of Congress from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,
and Pacific Coast regions were generally the most reliable supporters of animal
protection. Although there were notable exceptions, members from the Interior
West, Great Plains, and the South were generally the least supportive. Members
from the Midwest fell somewhere in between.
Nineteen senators scored a perfect 100% (pro-animal on 5 of 5 issues) and 16
scored 80%, while 34 senators scored zeroes and 7 had 20%. There were 59
representatives who scored 100% (pro-animal on 9 of 9 issues), with another 47
scoring 89%. There were just five zero scores in the House, but 125
representatives who scored 11%.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Check out the Humane Scorecard to see how Congress handled animal issues and
take note of how individual legislators responded to matters of concern.
Let your legislators know how you feel about their record on animal protection
and about pending federal legislation. The scorecard gives you a picture of the
current issues being considered by Congress.
Spread the word! Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, so that
your legislators' other constituents hear how they stand on animal issues.
Electronic copies of the Humane Scorecard are available online at http://www.hsus.org/ace/20704.
You can also order hard copies can by sending an email to sforte@hsus.org
or by calling 202-955-3668.
To view a column on how two very different legislators responded to key issues,
go to http://www.hsus.org/ace/20704.
As always, your federal legislators can be reached through the U.S. Capitol
switchboard: 202-224-3121, and you can look up who represents you in Congress by
going online to http://www.Congress.org
THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR ANIMALS --- TODAY!!
To receive directly, call 202-955-3668 or email humanelines@hsus.org
For more information on legislation, how to find your
legislators, or past HUMANElines, go to http://www.hsus.org/
or http://www.fund.org/
Julie Caramante
Pearland, Tx