[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 45 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 45

    Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Humane Methods of 
    Slaughter Act of 1958 should be fully enforced so as to prevent 
                     needless suffering of animals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 5, 2001

 Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Akaka) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Humane Methods of 
    Slaughter Act of 1958 should be fully enforced so as to prevent 
                     needless suffering of animals.

Whereas public demand for passage of Public Law 85-765 (commonly known as the 
        ``Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958'') (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) was 
        so great that when President Eisenhower was asked at a press conference 
        if he would sign the bill, he replied, ``If I went by mail, I'd think no 
        one was interested in anything but humane slaughter'';
Whereas the Act requires that animals be rendered insensible to pain when they 
        are slaughtered;
Whereas on April 10, 2001, a Washington Post front page article reported that 
        enforcement records, interviews, videos, and worker affidavits describe 
        repeated violations of the Act and that the Federal Government took no 
        action against a company that was cited 22 times in 1998 for violations 
        of the Act;
Whereas the article asserted that in 1998, the Secretary of Agriculture stopped 
        tracking the number of humane-slaughter violations;
Whereas the article concluded that scientific evidence shows tangible economic 
        benefits when animals are treated well;
Whereas the United States Animal Health Association passed a resolution at an 
        October 1998 meeting to encourage strong enforcement of the Act and 
        reiterated support for the resolution at a meeting in 2000; and
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Secretary of Agriculture to enforce the 
        Act fully: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

SECTION 1. HUMANE METHODS OF ANIMAL SLAUGHTER.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Secretary of Agriculture should--
                    (A) resume tracking the number of violations of 
                Public Law 85-765 (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) and report 
                the results and relevant trends annually to Congress; 
                and
                    (B) fully enforce Public Law 85-765 by ensuring 
                that humane methods in the slaughter of livestock--
                            (i) prevent needless suffering;
                            (ii) result in safer and better working 
                        conditions for persons engaged in the 
                        slaughtering of livestock;
                            (iii) bring about improvement of products 
                        and economies in slaughtering operations; and
                            (iv) produce other benefits for producers, 
                        processors, and consumers that tend to expedite 
                        an orderly flow of livestock and livestock 
                        products in interstate and foreign commerce; 
                        and
            (2) it should be the policy of the United States that the 
        slaughtering of livestock and the handling of livestock in 
        connection with slaughter shall be carried out only by humane 
        methods.
                                 <all>