[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 31, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8496-S8497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ENFORCEMENT OF HUMANE METHODS OF SLAUGHTER ACT OF 1958

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Agriculture 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 45 
and the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consideration of 
the concurrent resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, 
and any statements relating to this measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 45) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 45

       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

[[Page S8497]]

       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.

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