Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 7:24 PM

Subject: Working towards passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

We continue to gain cosponsors on the AHSPA, but always need more, especially some from the House Agriculture Committee http://agriculture.house.gov/. This is the primary committee of jurisdiction for the AHSPA and the least receptive to humane issues.

The current senior Democrat on the committee is Rep. Charlie Stenholm of Texas. It is very important to call, email and send letters to Rep. Stenholm letting him know how important the swift passage of this bill is to Texans and all of America. In fact, the AHSPA and your efforts in Texas were recently featured on Greek television during their efforts to stop the transport of horses through Greece on their way to Italy.

Everyone has to remember that this is going to take some time. Working on federal legislation is a much longer process than that recently witnessed in Texas. The US Congress is in session basically year round. Each Congress is made up of two sessions lasting a year each (there are recesses, but none are set in stone and can change). Currently we are in the first session of the 108th Congress. We can never let up in contacting members and spreading the word about this bill. The more people learn about this bill the better our chances are to pass it swiftly.

In addition to writing your legislators and spreading the word, it is important to contact your local television and print media. This will help to inform a wider audience as well.

If there are veterinarians and organizations interested in helping support the bill please have them contact me directly at chris@saplonline.org. We have a growing list of organizations and veterinarians which is very helpful when talking to members of Congress.

I will be sure to keep you informed for when we need an all out push as we did towards the end in Texas. In the mean time, we can not let up.

Feel free to give anyone my email address to answer any questions. I also try to keep our website up to date. People can find a link to the bill and an up to date list of cosponsors. http://www.saplonline.org/Legislation/ahpa.htm

Thanks again, if we can duplicate the incredible efforts from Texas horse slaughter will no longer exist in the US.