AR-News: Electing an Animal Friendly President

[Political Animal]

AN ANIMAL FRIENDLY PRESIDENT?
 
Humane USA is the bi-partisan political action
committee of the humane movement.  Chaired by Wayne
Pacelle, (The Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS) our board consists of Gene Bauston (Farm
Sanctuary), Mike Markarian (Fund for Animals),
Harriett Crosby, Jana Kohl, Mary Max, Adam Roberts,
Nanci Alexander (Florida Animal Rights Foundation),
Barbara Birdsey (Pegasus Fund), Dr. Priscilla Cohn,
Jane Greenspun Gale, Michele Martinez-Hixon, and
Bonnie Robbins.  Our Advisors are:  Marian Probst
(Fund for Animals), Sara Amundson (Doris Day Animal
League), Lisa Weisberg (ASPCA), and Gretchen Wyler
(The Ark Trust/HSUS).  (The organizations identified
do not participate in, or contribute to, Humane USA
pac in any way.)
 
Within the next ten days, eight states will hold
primaries to further determine the  Democratic
presidential candidate to face George W. Bush in
November. The entire humane community wants to know
how the next president will address animal protection
issues. Four candidates have already provided us with
a response to the Humane USA candidate questionnaire.
(See www.humaneusa.org)  However, candidates Wesley
Clark, Howard Dean, Joe Lieberman, and Al Sharpton
have not yet chosen to address our issues. 
 
Below is Humane USA Chair Wayne Pacelle's analysis of
the entire Democratic field.  We urge you to review it
and forward it to other interested voters. Also,
please contact the candidates who have not responded
to our questionnaire and urge them to let voters know
where they stand. 
 
Be sure to check the Humane USA web site periodically
through November 2 for state and federal candidate
updates,endorsements,and positions. 
 
 
The Democratic Field for President  Updated 1-21-04
By Wayne Pacelle, Humane USA Chairman
 
While there is no doubt that President Bush will be
the Republican nominee for President, the race among
the Democrats is still up for grabs, with three
serving U.S. Senators, one serving U.S.
Representative, one retired army general, one former
Governor, and a well-known civil rights advocate
declaring their candidacies and vying for the
nomination. 
 
Humane USA has not yet made an endorsement in this
race. We are in the fortunate position of having
several candidates with stellar records on animal
protection issues. We are pleased that four candidates
- Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Representative
Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Senator John Edwards of North
Carolina, and Representative Richard Gephardt of
Missouri - responded to the Humane USA questionnaire.
(Representative Gephardt has since dropped out of the
running.) In particular, Kerry and Kucinich offered
outstanding responses, and Edwards' response was quite
positive, too. We are still awaiting word from the
campaigns of former Governor Howard Dean of Vermont,
retired General Wesley Clark, Senator Joe Lieberman,
and Reverend Al Sharpton. Given their front-running
status, we are particularly interested in securing
responses from Dean and Clark, since Dean's past
record is so mixed and since Clark has no public
record on these issues.
 
In terms of past performance on animal issues, four of
the eight candidates have particularly distinguished
records: Kerry, Kucinich, and Lieberman of
Connecticut. Each one has compiled consistently
excellent voting records on animal issues in the
Congress in recent years. More than that, these
individuals have emerged as animal protection leaders,
instigating and organizing efforts to achieve reforms
for animals. 
 
Senator Kerry was the co-author with former Senator
Bob Smith (R-NH) of the successful effort to halt an
annual $2 million subsidy for the mink industry -
terminating a taxpayer give-away to the corporate mink
industry. Kerry and Smith shepherded this amendment
through the Senate during debate on the Fiscal Year
1995 Agriculture Appropriations Act, and they have
repelled subsequent efforts by legislators aligned
with the mink industry to revive the taxpayer
boondoggle. Kerry has also been the co-author, with
Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), of letters in recent
years sent to the leaders of the Senate Subcommittee
on Agriculture Appropriations to increase funding for
existing animal protection laws, including the Animal
Welfare Act and the Humane Slaughter Act. Thanks in
part to his leadership - and collaborating with the
powerful senior member of the Appropriations
Committee, Robert C. Byrd -- the Congress has provided
more than $26 million in new funds for animal
protection programs in recent years. 
 
Kerry has cosponsored almost every piece of animal
protection legislation - including measures to combat
cockfighting, bear baiting, canned hunts, puppy mills,
the bear parts trade, the exotic pet trade,
steel-jawed leghold traps, and the abuse of "downed"
livestock - introduced on behalf of animals. A
Washington Post profile of Senator Kerry, however, did
create concern among animal advocates across the
country. It reported that Kerry highlighted his
interest in the hunting of mourning doves - an unusual
activity to draw out at this stage of the campaign,
given that dove hunting is illegal and enormously
unpopular in both Iowa and New Hampshire, especially
among Democratic activists. 
 
Representative Kucinich holds the distinction of being
the only vegan (a strict vegetarian who consumes no
animal products) in Congress. Kucinich has been the
co-author, with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), of the House
letters seeking funding increases for animal welfare
programs (this is the House version of the
Santorum-Kerry letters). Kucinich also has cosponsored
every piece of major animal protection legislation, as
has Senator Kerry. He has called for the creation of a
Department of Peace, and he includes animal rights as
an element of his plan.
 
Senator Lieberman also has a consistently strong
record on animal protection issues. He is a consistent
and reliable supporter of our issues. He, along with
Senator Kerry, has assumed the mantle of leadership in
fighting the efforts of Japan and Norway to engage in
commercial whaling. He has been the author of a series
of letters on the subject to the Clinton and Bush
Administrations and he has been very outspoken
advocate on the topic.
The other candidates are a step below the
above-mentioned group, but all have clear sympathies
for animal protection. 
 
John Edwards of North Carolina immediately became a
much-admired figure within the animal protection
community by defeating incumbent U.S. Senator Lauch
Faircloth, who was the chamber's only operator of an
industrial hog factory. Still in his first term in the
Senate, Edwards has been a consistently reliable
supporter of animal protection and regularly
cosponsors animal protection legislation or supports
our positions on key votes, such as banning canned
hunts. He did, however, oppose the amendment to halt
the use of leghold traps on national wildlife refuges.
His general support for our positions is noteworthy
because North Carolina's agriculture, hunting, and
animal fighting industries are larger and more vocal
than those in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Florida
- the states represented by the other senators vying
for the Democratic nomination.
 
As governor of Vermont, Howard Dean signed legislation
to upgrade penalties for animal cruelty. He was
considered a friend by animal advocates in the state,
but not a leader, and did little to distinguish
himself in this arena of public policy. He does come
from a state where animal agriculture has not been
overtaken by corporate interests; perhaps his
executive experience will lead him to advocate for
small-scale farming in place of industrial
agriculture, which is so harsh on animals. As
governor, he was, unfortunately, an advocate of the
use of steel-jawed leghold traps - an ugly mark on his
record.
 
The Reverend Al Sharpton has not served in public
office, and therefore has no record on animal issues.
We will query him on emerging animal issues, as we
will with each one of the candidates so that they can
amplify their views on the subject.
 
Humane USA does not just examine a candidate's stands
on animal issues, but also his or her prospect of
winning the party nomination and the general election.
If animal friendly candidates cannot get elected to
the offices they seek, then we are less interested in
recommending support. Humane USA blends a concern for
animal issues with a pragmatic interest in helping
influence elections and public policy; we can do the
latter only if we support viable candidates.
 
As mentioned above, Kerry, Kucinich, Gephardt, and
Edwards have responded to the Humane USA
questionnaire. We anxiously await word from the
others, since their failure to respond may be a
measure of their commitment on these issues. The only
time animal issues figured prominently on the campaign
trail in recent weeks was in the immediate aftermath
of the finding of Mad Cow disease in this country.
Several candidates chastised the Bush Administration,
and the Republican Congress, for failing to adopt the
Downed Animal Protection Act - removed twice in
Republican-controlled conference committees. Governor
Dean, in particular, made the most emphatic statement
in support of banning the processing of downed
animals, and for that we credit him. 
 
Senator Edwards has made the most emphatic statements
against the growth of corporate industrial factory
farms - an enormously important issue for animal
advocates, environmentalists, and humane advocates. 
 
We will keep you apprised of our dealings with the
campaigns, but we want to provide this snapshot of the
race. We will also provide a thorough assessment of
President Bush's performance on animal issues in a
separate piece within the coming months. We encourage
you to contact the campaigns and ask them about their
positions on animal issues. We provide some
biographical and contact information for the
campaigns. Also, we have reproduced the filled-out
questionnaires from the candidates on
www.humaneusa.org, and we encourage you to review
them. If you live in one of the early primary states,
you can help influence the candidates by attending
campaign events and raising animal issues with the
candidates or their staff. You may also wish to
volunteer for your favored candidate.
 
                   Paid for by HumaneUSA,
www.humaneusa.org,
             and not authorized by any candidate or
candidate's committee

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