WASHINGTON (April 9, 2018)—Today the Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, announced its endorsement of incumbent Norma Torres in the primary for California’s 35th Congressional District.
Rep. Torres received a score of 91 out of 100 on HSLF’s 2017 Humane Scorecard, having supported the full range of priority animal legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Norma Torres consistently supports the federal animal protection legislative agenda in Congress,” said Sara Amundson, executive director of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “The Humane Society Legislative Fund is pleased to support Norma Torres, and voters in the 35th District who care about the humane treatment of animals should back her re-election.”
Among her efforts in the 115th Congress, Rep. Torres:
- Cosponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (H.R. 1847)) to strengthen the federal law against the “soring” of Tennessee Walking horses in shows—using caustic chemicals and other painful substances to injure the horses’ hooves and legs to induce a high-stepping gait.
- Cosponsored the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act (H.R. 909 and S.322) 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. 1494 and S.654) to make malicious animal cruelty a crime on federal property and in interstate commerce, and complement the state anti-cruelty laws.
- Cosponsored the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (H.R. 113 and S. 1706) to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas.
- Cosponsored the Shark Fin Sales/Trade Elimination Act (H.R. 1456 and S.793) to prohibit the trade of shark fins.
- Cosponsored the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2017 (H.R. 1406) to prohibit the domestic slaughter, trade and import of dogs and cats for human consumption.
- Cosponsored the Humane Cosmetics Act (H.R. 2790), to phase out the testing of cosmetics on live animals and the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetics.
- Voted against the Midnight Rules Relief Act (H.R. 21) which would allow Congress to overturn regulations en masse in the last year of a president’s term, endangering popular and broadly supported animal welfare regulations.
- Voted against H.J. Res. 69, a Congressional Review Act resolution to revoke a Fish and Wildlife Services rule that prohibits specific egregiously cruel and unsporting hunting methods on more than 76 million acres of National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.
- Voted against a harmful rider (H.Amdt. 351) that sought to block regulations that prohibit scientifically unjustified and cruel methods of trophy hunting on over 20 million acres of NPS lands in Alaska, including killing hibernating black bear mothers and cubs and shooting caribou while they are swimming and defenseless.
Media Contact: Brad Pyle, BPyle@hslf.org
###
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.
