Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the entire committee for their work in passing this bill out of committee. I know it was somewhat contentious. It shouldn't have been, but it was. I rise in strong support of H.R. 5441, the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act, acronym, the PAST Act, which I proudly introduced with several prime cosponsors who worked on it, including Brian Fitzpatrick, Jan Schakowsky, and Vern Buchanan. Mr. Buchanan, like Mr. Bilirakis, is a Member of the class of 2006, of which I am, as well. The PAST Act will shut down the cruel practice of horse soring, which has been described here on the floor. It is a horrendous practice that horse trainers have used in the Tennessee Walking, Spotted Saddle, and Racking Horse shows. The horses have a beautiful gait to start with. They have a natural gait, a smooth, natural gait. It is revered in Tennessee. It used to be Tennessee Walkers paraded at the University of Tennessee football games to great applause and great thrill of the fans. However, some people, to make it even more imposing, took away their natural gait, which is enough of a miracle and enjoyment to watch, and put in these soring practices to get a high gait, extremely high gait, known as the Big Lick. The Big Lick is wrong.…”