When Congress returns to Washington D.C. next week, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., intends to bring three amendments to the House floor to fight red tide and horse slaughter and protecting the Florida panther.
Buchanan announced on Wednesday that he will offer those amendments to a government funding bill. The amendments will be sent to the U.S. House Rules Committee.
“Banning the slaughter of horses, curbing harmful red tide and funding the Endangered Species Act are important issues to the people in my district and the rest of Florida,” Buchanan said on Wednesday. “It's time for Congress to end partisan gridlock and pass common-sense policies.”
Buchanan’s amendment on horse slaughtering would prevent the “reopening of horse slaughter facilities in the United States by prohibiting federal funding for health and safety inspections which is required by law at all meat processing plants.” Earlier this month, Buchanan announced his "Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act" had garnered 150 co-sponsors in the U.S. House. The proposal, which would end slaughtering horses for human consumption in the U.S. and stop exporting horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, also has a companion measure in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lindsey Graham, R-SC, Bob Menendez, D-NJ, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, introduced the Senate companion earlier this month.
The Endangered Species amendment Buchanan will bring out will send almost $3.4 million to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to add new animals to be protected by Endangered Species Act. Earlier this month, Buchanan wrote FWS, urging it to keep the Florida panther covered and protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Buchanan’s red tied amendment sends $8 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service “to detect, respond to and develop new and innovative technologies to mitigate the impacts of red tide.”
In recent years, Buchanan, who has been honored by the Humane Society, has focused on animal welfare issues. Back in October, he teamed up with U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-NM, to urge the Interior Department to end plans to exterminate or sell more than 45,000 wild horses.
The Bradenton congressman has also been active in trying to keep manatees covered under the Endangered Species Act. Earlier this year, Buchanan protested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to downgrade manatees from “endangered” to “threatened.” Earlier this year, Buchanan teamed up with U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., on bringing out the “Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act," a proposal banning the slaughter of cats and dogs for human consumption.
First elected to the U.S. House in 2006, Buchanan serves on both the Budget and the Ways and Means Committees. Buchanan’s name has garnered buzz as a possible U.S. Senate candidate in recent election cycles but he’s opted to continue in the House.
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