TODAY'S EDITORIAL
January 13, 2006
Last year, Congress
voted overwhelmingly to include an amendment in the agriculture appropriations
bill that would, in the words of Sen. John Ensign, "end the slaughter of
America's horses for human consumption overseas." Mr. Ensign was a co-sponsor
of the bill, as was Sen. Robert Byrd, who said the amendment would "stop
the slaughter of horses for human consumption." In the House, amendment
co-sponsor Rep. John Spratt said, "This amendment in simple terms will
stop the slaughter for human consumption of horses."
So, we learn with surprise that this amendment
apparently "does not prevent horse slaughter at all," according to
Department of Agriculture General Counsel James Michael Kelly. All it does, Mr.
Kelly wrote in a letter to Congress, is prohibit "expenditure of funds
provided under the 2006 [appropriations] Act to pay the salaries and expenses
of personnel to inspect the horses." In other words, the only purpose of
the amendment is to cut a little grist from the federal budget.
Mr. Kelly's assertion is ridiculous. Under the Federal
Meat Inspection Act horses bound for human consumption must be inspected by
USDA employees both prior to and after slaughter. The amendment, which
President Bush signed into law in November, bans horse slaughter by prohibiting
the funds used for the inspections. As the record clearly states, this was
Congress' intent. In the words of the Humane Society of the United States, any
other explanation "would render the entire Amendment meaningless" and
forces one to accept the "absurd premise that all of the time, effort, and
energy spent debating and enacting this Amendment was for the sole purpose of
changing the way [USDA] pays for horse inspection prior to slaughter."
Nonetheless, USDA is considering a petition from the
three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the country to disregard the
explicit will of Congress. The two Belgian plants and one French-owned plant
are offering to pay the inspectors themselves under a fee-for-service system
used for "certain exotic animals," like elk, reindeer, rabbits, and
now, we suppose, horses. Moreover, they want to do this without having to go
through the messy public notice and comment period otherwise common for such
requests. Astoundingly, the USDA seems prepared to let them do this.
So, we'll set up our own public notice and comment
period. Readers who might not like the idea of a U.S. agency ignoring a law of
Congress to placate a few foreign horse slaughterers should voice their
concerns to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Send an e-mail to Mr. Johanns
at mike.johanns@usda.gov or call his office at 202-720-3631