[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 48 (Thursday, April 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1670-H1671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BANNING COCKFIGHTING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to spend a 
moment on the floor of the House this afternoon dealing with an issue 
that passed this House by voice vote overwhelmingly during the 
discussion on the agricultural bill earlier this session.
  We now have in conference the ag bill that seems to be moving 
forward. I have grave concerns in one particular area, Mr. Speaker, 
that I am going to be working over the course of the next few days to 
seek clarification because I want to make sure that the intent of the 
House and the Senate are preserved in the final form that comes out of 
conference.
  Mr. Speaker, there has been a practice of cockfighting, game hens, 
that has been tolerated by this Congress even though it is now illegal 
in 47 States. The public long ago has come to the point that this 
practice is inherently inhuman and barbaric.

                              {time}  1545

  The handlers of these fighting birds drug the animals to heighten 
their aggression and to clot the blood. They affix knives or ice picks 
like gaffs to their legs and place them into a pit to fight until one 
of them is dead, all for amusement and illegal gambling.
  Mr. Speaker, this barbaric practice is slowly being made illegal 
around the country. It is currently legal in only three States. The 
problem is that under current law it is still legal to transport these 
birds from States where it is illegal to States that it is legal, and 
this loophole is exploited to allow people to maintain, to train, and 
it facilitates illegal game bird fighting.
  Last October, my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Tancredo), and I offered two amendments to the farm bill that would 
close these loopholes and strengthen the penalty for violations of 
animal fighting laws. These two amendments were passed overwhelmingly 
by this body by voice vote, adopted in identical form in the Senate. 
This, in fact, should not even be a conference item. Identical language 
was adopted by both the House and the Senate. The intent of both 
Chambers was to close the loophole, ban foreign export of fighting 
animals, and increase the penalty.
  According to the House Agriculture Committee's Web site, a conference 
committee is permitted to deal only with matters in disagreement 
between the House and the Senate. It may not change language that both 
have previously approved.

[[Page H1671]]

  Unfortunately, it is pretty clear to me that people are, in fact, 
looking at watering down the penalty provisions in particular, and to 
deal with problems, some people are saying, I have been told by one 
high-ranking member of the conference committee that they are concerned 
that there is not a problem with 4-H clubs dealing with raising these 
chickens that the 4-H'ers produce.
  Well, first of all, to prosecute a cockfighting case, law enforcement 
officers must have evidence of the illegal activity. The birds intended 
to be used in these cock fights are identifiable by several indicators, 
including the special structures that they are kept in, the fighting 
paraphernalia, the specific drugs that are provided to them to heighten 
the aggression and to aid the blood clotting.
  The Animal Welfare Act already prohibits interstate transports for 
dogs for fighting purposes, and we have not had anybody come to this 
floor and say, well, we have these provisions in Federal law and we 
cannot have legitimate show-dog activities, that it is interfering with 
the buying, transport, and delivery of animals for purposes that do not 
impact animal fighting. Of course not. Reasonable people apply the laws 
reasonably, and this is absolutely specious.
  There is a problem, however, because people will run through this 
loophole to continue to exploit the illegal game fighting that is 
happening in these States where it is illegal but it is legal to grow 
them, legal to train them, legal to transport them.
  One of the problems is that the current penalties are 26 years old. 
They are not high enough to warrant prosecution of violations. What we 
hear from the U.S. Department of Justice and the USDA, that they have 
indicated that they would give more consideration if they were a felony 
and included higher fines and jail time.
  That is what the House passed. That is what the conference committee 
should protect, and if we are not able to do that, Mr. Speaker, it is 
my intention to bring a motion to this floor to instruct the conferees 
to respect the rights and the will of the House and the Senate and to 
do what the American people want and end this cruel and barbaric 
practice.

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