WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07), Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, and Scott Perry (R-PA-10) – who represents the district where Penn National Race Course is located in Grantsville, Pennsylvania – are the latest to join in cosponsoring the Horseracing Integrity Act, H.R. 1754 this week, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 252.
While committee work in Congress has come to a screeching halt due to the Covid-10 pandemic, there is a clear path forward in the U.S. House for H.R. 1754 once the bill reaches 290 cosponsors due to a new rule the House Problem Solvers Caucus secured at the beginning of the 116th Congress. The new rule enabled both the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 693, and the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, H.R. 724, to avert the committee process and pass the House in 2019.
“The lives of our iconic American equines are entrusted to us, and we must do everything possible to stop the rash of breakdowns, injuries, and deaths that continue to occur in the U.S. – even amidst the Covid-19 crisis,” said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, who testified before the U.S. House in support of the bill in January. “We applaud Reps. Collin Peterson and Scott Perry for joining our cause and cosponsoring the Horseracing Integrity Act.”
Animal Wellness Action has been championing H.R. 1754, led by U.S. Reps. Paul Tonko (D-NY-20) and Andy Barr (R-KY-06), that would ban the use of race-day medication in the sport, and create a uniform national standard and regulations for drug testing under the authority of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that oversees Olympic testing, and is widely recognized as the world’s leader in eliminating medication abuse.
Peterson and Perry’s support comes on the heels of legendary trainer Bob Baffert’s recent endorsement of the legislation and dozens of federal indictments of horseracing industry insiders that came to light in March. The bill is backed by a broad base of industry players which range from The Jockey Club, The Stronach Group, The New York Racing Association, The Breeders’ Cup, Keeneland, Water Hay Oats Alliance and countless trainers, owners, and breeders invested in American horseracing.
The Animal Wellness Foundation (Foundation) is a Los Angeles-based private charitable organization with a mission of helping animals by making veterinary care available to everyone with a pet, regardless of economic ability. We organize rescue efforts and medical services for dogs and cats in need and help homeless pets find a loving caregiver. We are advocates for getting veterinarians to the front lines of the animal welfare movement; promoting responsible pet ownership; and vaccinating animals against infectious diseases such as distemper. We also support policies that prevent animal cruelty and that alleviate suffering. We believe helping animals helps us all.
Animal Wellness Action (Action) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) organization with a mission of helping animals by promoting legal standards forbidding cruelty. We champion causes that alleviate the suffering of companion animals, farm animals, and wildlife. We advocate for policies to stop dogfighting and cockfighting and other forms of malicious cruelty and to confront factory farming and other systemic forms of animal exploitation. To prevent cruelty, we promote enacting good public policies and we work to enforce those policies. To enact good laws, we must elect good lawmakers, and that’s why we remind voters which candidates care about our issues and which ones don’t. We believe helping animals helps us all.