Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012
Floor Speech
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Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from New Mexico is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gen tle lady from Wyoming bringing this amendment.
You know, many times people think that horse slaughter is just simply inhumane. Somehow they think that horse starvation is somehow more humane. The truth is that people are going to get rid of their horses in some way, so what they do in New Mexico and in the Western States is they simply take them out and turn them loose.
Right now we are struggling with an economy, an economy that is having difficulties from every area, and too often we say it is just a problem of the economy. We don't break it down to its individual components.
One of the components in New Mexico is that we have completely eliminated sheep from New Mexico. New Mexico used to be a large area of sheep production. That piece of the economy is simply gone because of regulations we in Washington and the States have put into place. New Mexico also used to have a vibrant apple economy. That is now gone because we have given favorable treatment to overseas products.
But then this is another element of the economy that has simply disappeared. New Mexico used to have a vibrant horse trade. Prices were high. Now prices on horses are low because people know they have no option at the end of a horse's life, so it is simply doing away with the horse market.
So we find that we in Congress are causing the economic decay of our entire Nation, and the gen tle lady's amendment simply says let's study the facts. Let's understand what is going on that we ourselves are causing. Let's understand the economic duress that Washington and the States are putting on their own economies. It makes ultimate sense, and for us in the West it should be absolutely reinstated. We should reinstate the market there, because horses are being very inhumanely treated in the guise of some more humane treatment. So I thank the lady for her presentation.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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