Political Quotes

“This is not about that. This is about horses which are in a special place. This is about a practice that is profusely out of whack with the standards of America. Reclaiming my time, I want to talk about the slaughter facilities themselves. These houses do not contribute to this economy. In his written testimony during the committee hearings on H.R. 503, Dick Koehler, vice president of Beltex Corp., a slaughter plant in Fort Worth, Texas, described the horse slaughter industry as a tax-paying legitimate business. Yet witnesses at that same hearing revealed tax returns showing that Dallas Crown, Inc., based in Kaufman, Texas, made $12 million in revenue 1 year and paid only $5 in U.S. taxes. The U.S. exports 18,000 tons of horse meat, netting $65 million in 2005; and the profits went back to the countries of the owners of those plants. Two of them are from Belgium. One of them is from France. There are costs to the local economies. It is a practice that is abhorrent and that is not supported. Mr. Chairman, I reserve my time.”