Delegate deserves support for steadfast leadership on numerous animal welfare issues
Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton for re-election in the race for the District of Columbia’s seat in Congress.
The group lauded her strong support for numerous animal welfare bills, including the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act (H.R. 2742) to combat organized dogfighting and cockfighting, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 7248) to promote animal-free testing in drug development, and the Addressing Digestive Distress in the Stomachs of Our Youth (ADD SOY) Act (H.R. 1619) to ease a production burden on dairy cows and give millions of lactose-intolerant minority children access to a nutritious non-dairy milk option in the National School Lunch Program.
“Eleanor Holmes Norton is extraordinarily consistent and comprehensive in her support for animal welfare,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “She is remarkably active on the subject and she understands that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it’s typically bound up with other forms of social violence.”
Pacelle also commended Del. Norton for signing a letter opposing the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417), which would overturn certain voter-approved state laws to ensure the humane housing of farm animals, including Prop 12 in California and Question 3 in Massachusetts. The California law against extreme confinement was upheld as constitutional by a bloc of conservatives and liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee. Nevertheless, the EATS Act is being pushed by foreign agribusiness interests, including the Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, in an attempt to undercut the investment many American farmers have already made in more humane animal housing systems.
Also in her current term, Del. Norton voted against two measures the House Republican leadership brought up on the House floor that would have been disastrous for wildlife. The first bill (H.R. 764) would have stripped Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across much of the lower 48 states, opening the door to trophy hunting and commercial trapping. Such a policy might also expose wolves to being recreationally run over with snowmobiles – a practice that came to light earlier this year in Wyoming. The second bill (H.R. 615) would have restricted land management officials from regulating the use of hazardous lead ammunition on public lands and waterways. Every year, ingested spent lead poisons millions of wild scavenger species, including our nation’s iconic bald eagles.
“Animal Wellness Action urges voters in the District of Columbia who care about animal welfare and who abhor animal cruelty to back Del. Norton this fall,” Pacelle said.
The full endorsement letter for Del. Norton may be viewed here.