WASHINGTON (September 28, 2016)—The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, announces its endorsement of Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Florida, for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Citing his strong leadership and advocacy on animal protection policies, the HSLF urges voters in Florida’s 16th Congressional District to support Rep. Buchanan in November’s general election.
Vern Buchanan is one of the leading voices in Congress for animals, consistently supporting, and leading on, priority legislation. He received a score of “100+” on HSLF’s 2015 Humane Scorecard, which rates legislators based on their efforts for animal protection. Buchanan was the recipient of HSLF’s 2015 Humane Legislator of the Year Award.
“Rep. Buchanan has been a leader for equine welfare and supported every issue on the 2016 Humane Scorecard,” said Sara Amundson, executive director of the HSLF. “He is a true friend to animals, and voters in the 16th District who care about animals should unquestionably support Rep. Buchanan for re-election.”
Among his efforts in the 114th Congress, Rep. Buchanan:
- Introduced the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (H.R. 1942) to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas;
- Supported the protection of endangered species and urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw its proposal to weaken protections for manatees under the Endangered Species Act;
- Cosponsored the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act (H.R. 1258) to protect the human and animal victims of domestic violence and support the work of battered women’s shelters to accommodate pets;
- Cosponsored the Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act (H.R. 2293) to make malicious animal cruelty a crime on federal property and in interstate commerce, and complement the state anti-cruelty laws;
- Cosponsored the Humane Cosmetics Act (H.R. 2858) to phase out the testing of cosmetics on live animals and the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics;
- Cosponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (H.R. 3268) to strengthen the federal law against the “soring” of show horses—using caustic chemicals and other painful substances to injure the horses’ hooves and legs to induce a high-stepping gait;
- Opposed a harmful rider that sought to block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from implementing new rules to crack down on the domestic ivory trade and help stop the poaching and slaughter of elephants for their tusks;
- Opposed measures to substantially weaken the Endangered Species Act and strip federal protections from wolves and other imperiled species;
- Supported the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 2576), to update chemical safety tests and reduce or eliminate the testing of tens of thousands of chemicals on animals;
- Supported funding for enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, Horse Protection Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and federal animal fighting law, as well as for programs to address the needs of animals in disasters and to ease a shortage of veterinarians in rural and inner-city areas and USDA positions through student loan forgiveness.
Media Contact: John Cleveland, (202) 676-2338, jcleveland@hslf.org
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HSLF is a nonpartisan organization that evaluates candidates based only on a single criterion: where they stand on animal welfare. HSLF does not judge candidates based on party affiliation or any other issue.
The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. Visit us on all our channels: on the web at hslf.org, on our blog at animalsandpolitics.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/humanelegislation and on Twitter at twitter.com/HSLegFund.
Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. HSLF, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Suite 455, Washington, DC 20037.
