Candidate will help stop China’s attempt to overturn a key California agriculture law that Central Valley farmers have invested in with hundreds of millions of dollars
Washington D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Adam Gray in the race for California’s 13th congressional district and announced an “independent expenditure” campaign against Rep. John Duarte. The organization strongly criticized Rep. John Duarte for putting Central Valley farmers and animal welfare at risk, after massive investments by producers to comply with Prop 12.
The group lauded Adam Gray’s commitment to oppose the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417), which would federally overturn certain voter-approved state laws to shield farm animals from extreme confinement, including California’s Proposition 12. A legislative priority for the Chinese-owned factory farming company Smithfield Foods, the EATS Act would threaten the livelihoods of California family farmers who have invested millions of dollars in new, more humane animal housing systems. The California law was explicitly upheld as constitutional by a bloc of conservatives and liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court, with the opinion penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee.
Here is the ad that the organization released today and is promoting with identified animal welfare advocates throughout the 13th district: Defeat Duarte and Reject Chinese Control of American Agriculture.
“We shouldn’t allow China to drive agriculture policy in the United States and overturn U.S. elections, including the landslide election favoring Prop 12,” noted Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “Adam Gray will stand in the way of Smithfield Food and its federal policy goal that would cripple American egg and pig farmers, including key farmers and farming companies in the Central Valley.”
Pacelle noted that Mr. Gray’s opponent, incumbent Republican John Duarte, who co-sponsored the EATS Act, has not co-sponsored a single animal welfare bill this Congress, despite more than 70 such bills being introduced across a range of bipartisan policies from cracking down on animal fighting and puppy mills to ensuring humane testing of drugs and cosmetics.
“It’s hard to imagine that Congressman Duarte couldn’t find it in his heart to support even one animal welfare bill in the entire 118th Congress,” added Pacelle. To take one example, Pacelle noted that his office repeatedly shared information about the FIGHT Act to combat dogfighting and cockfighting. The National Sheriffs’ Association and the National District Attorneys’ Association are just two of the more than 350 law enforcement associations that back the legislation, along with the United Egg Producers. But Duarte ignored their recommendations to swing behind the pro-animal, pro-agriculture, pro-law enforcement measure, cosponsored by California Republicans David Valadao, Mike Garcia, Ken Calvert, Young Kim, and Kevin Kiley.
The full endorsement letter for Mr. Gray may be viewed here.
In two other Central Valley races, Animal Wellness Action has endorsed the re-election campaigns of Republican Rep. David Valadao in the 22nd congressional district and Democrat Rep. Jim Costa in the 21st congressional district.