WASHINGTON (July 31, 2018)—Today the Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, announced its endorsement of Darren Soto in the Democratic Party Primary for Florida’s 9th Congressional District.
Rep. Soto received a perfect score of “100” on HSLF’s 2017 Humane Scorecard, cosponsoring a wide range of legislation supporting animal protection issues while voting against several bills that would effectively dismantle existing protections for animals. He also voted for an amendment to the Farm Bill that would clearly extend current dogfighting and cockfighting prohibitions to all U.S. jurisdictions, including the U.S. territories (H.Amdt. 630).
"Darren Soto has been a consistent supporter of commonsense animal protection measures before the U.S. Congress," said Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. "The Humane Society Legislative Fund is pleased to announce our support for Rep. Soto, and we encourage voters in Florida’s 9th Congressional District who love animals to back his re-election."
Rep. Soto is a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, a bipartisan organization committed to raising awareness of animal welfare issues in Congress. His work in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committees has helped shape legislation to strengthen the nation’s commitment to animal protection and conservation.
Among his efforts in the 115th Congress, Rep. Soto:
- Cosponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics 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 Act (H.R. 909) to protect the human and animal survivors of domestic violence and support the work of domestic violence shelters to accommodate pets.
- Cosponsored the Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture Act (H.R. 1494) 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 Act (H.R. 113) to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas.
- Cosponsored the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (H.R. 1456) to prohibit the trade of shark fins, for which sharks are hunted and their maimed bodies returned to the ocean.
- 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 the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (H.R. 26) which would negate broadly supported rules, including commonsense measures to implement and enforce animal protection laws.
- Voted against H.J. Res. 69, a Congressional Review Act resolution to revoke a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 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 National Park Service lands in Alaska, including killing hibernating black bear mothers and cubs and shooting caribou while they are swimming and defenseless.
Media Contact: press@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.
