Political Quotes

“I have been involved for 20 years to try and stop the barbaric practice of animal fighting, dogfighting, cockfighting, and slowly but surely, we have made the point under Federal law. It is a felony crime: to sponsor; exhibit an animal in a fighting venue; to buy, sell, deliver, possess, train animals; or to bring a minor to an animal fight. But this has been long and slow and painful. And I violently disagree with the notion that we should have one set of rules. It is already a felony in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. We shouldn't have one set of rules for some territories, and for the rest of the States. At core, this is a barbaric, inhumane practice. The animals are drugged to make them more ferocious. In cockfighting, they are equipped with metal spurs to slash each other--fighting to the death. I am sorry, this Congress has rejected the notion that this is culturally specific. Animal cruelty has no place in any territory, in any State, in any venue, by any race or ethnic group or cultural tradition. We have gone past that. We heard those arguments in some States when we were fighting to achieve these protections. I strongly urge that we continue this 20-year fight to protect animals and protect people from being involved with this horrific activity, and close what is, in fact, a loophole. We should have no separate rules for States, territories, or anywhere under our jurisdiction.…”