Tenure: 115th–119th Congresses (House service: 112th–114th Congresses)
Years of Service: 2017–Present
Notable Actions
119th Congress
✅ Lead sponsor of the EGG SAVE Act, S. 5346, to modernize egg production by accelerating the voluntary adoption of in-ovo sexing technology to end the wasteful and inhumane culling of male chicks in hatcheries.
❌ Voted “Yea” on S.J. Res. 23 (Senate Roll Call Vote 122), a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn federal regulations strengthening implementation of the Endangered Species Act, including protections governing the listing of imperiled species and designation of critical habitat. A “Yea” vote is the anti-animal position because it supported eliminating stronger protections for threatened and endangered wildlife and their habitat.
❌ Voted “Nay” on the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 69 (Senate Roll Call Vote 597), a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act to bring the measure before the Senate for consideration to overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Barred Owl Management Strategy, which authorized the large-scale killing of barred owls in Washington, Oregon, and California. A “Nay” vote is the anti-animal position because it opposed moving forward with a vote to repeal the barred owl kill plan.
117th Congress
✅ Approved by unanimous consent, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, to prohibit most private ownership and breeding of lions, tigers, and other big cats while restricting public contact with these dangerous wild animals. The law was designed to curb the exploitation of big cats in roadside zoos and cub-petting operations, improve animal welfare, and enhance public safety by limiting private possession of these species.
❌ Voted “Yea” on Sen. Ron Johnson’s Motion to Instruct conferees on H.R. 4521 (Senate Roll Call Vote 152), which sought to reject a House-passed provision prohibiting commercial mink farming in the United States. A “Yea” vote is the anti-animal position because it supported removing the House provision to end commercial mink farming.
116th Congress
✅ Approved by unanimous consent the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, landmark legislation making the most egregious acts of intentional animal cruelty—including crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling, and other forms of torture—a federal felony when committed in interstate commerce, on federal property, or within federal jurisdiction. The measure strengthened the nation’s legal framework against animal cruelty and closed a longstanding gap in federal law by ensuring that the worst acts of animal abuse could be prosecuted even when state or local authorities could not act. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent.
115th Congress
✅ Approved by unanimous consent the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, S. 654, bipartisan legislation to make the most egregious acts of intentional animal cruelty—including crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling, and other forms of torture—a federal felony when committed in interstate or foreign commerce or within federal jurisdiction. The Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent in December 2017.
❌ Voted “Aye” on H.J. Res. 69, a Congressional Review Act (Senate Roll Call Vote 92) resolution to overturn an Obama administration rule prohibiting killing bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens, baiting bears with food to shoot them at close range, and aerial shooting of wolves and other predators. The resolution passed the Senate 52–47. An “Aye” vote is the anti-animal position because it repealed the rule protecting wildlife from these inhumane and unsporting predator-killing practices on national wildlife refuges in Alaska.
✅ Voted “Yea” on the conference report for the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill), H.R. 2 (Senate Roll Call Vote 259), which included major animal-protection provisions prohibiting dog and cat meat consumption, extending the federal animal-fighting prohibition to all U.S. territories, and providing protections for domestic-violence survivors and their pets. The final bill also excluded the House-passed King Amendment, which threatened state animal-welfare laws. The Senate approved the Farm Bill 87–13.