Riley Moore: “I have an amendment that in my view would correct what had taken place in the Agriculture Committee. There was an…”

“I have an amendment that in my view would correct what had taken place in the Agriculture Committee. There was an amendment to eliminate dog racing, greyhound racing specifically, in the United States. The only problem with that, there is only one State that continues to do that, and that is the State of West Virginia. One of the issues surrounding this is the revenue that is generated from that track. Forty percent of the revenue-sharing from the track supports the pension funds of police and firefighters, and we have had the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Firefighters actually come out in support of this amendment because it will decimate those pensions of our retired police and firefighters, some of whom are disabled. Those union members, who are just trying to scratch by in the State of West Virginia, are no longer going to be able to do that. This amendment leaves the full ban in place for the other 49 States and grandfathers in the two tracks that are in West Virginia. No new tracks can open in West Virginia or any State in the country after this. Lastly, this really is a question of States' rights where we have voted on this in the State of West Virginia. They have affirmatively voted on it. This question will come up again before the State legislature. Perhaps they will vote at some point not to, but we are really worried about not only those pensions but the almost 2,000 employees who are also involved in this industry.”