[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S2392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BYRD:
  S. 576. A bill to restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and 
slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, President Reagan was often fond of saying 
that ``there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside 
of a horse.'' So he surely would have been proud when, on November 18, 
2004, during the closing days of the 108th Congress, the Senate passed 
a resolution introduced by our former colleague Senator Ben Nighthorse 
Campbell that designated December 13, 2004, as ``National Day of the 
Horse.'' The resolution encouraged the people of the United States to 
be mindful of the contribution of horses to the economy, history, and 
character of our great Nation. The resolution, S. Res. 452, included a 
provision that stated ``horses are a vital part of the collective 
experience of the United States and deserve protection and 
compassion.''
  Beginning in the 1950's, public awareness was raised about the cruel 
and inhumane manner in which wild horses and burros were being rounded 
up on public lands and subsequently sent to slaughter. Velma B. 
Johnston, later known as Wild Horse Annie, led an effort to protect 
this symbol of the American West that captured the imagination of 
school children across the country. In 1959, which was my first year in 
the Senate, Congress passed legislation I was pleased to support that 
prohibited the use of motorized vehicles to hunt wild horses and burros 
on all public lands. But the bill, which came to be known as the ``Wild 
Horse Annie Act,'' did not include a program for the management of wild 
horses and burros in the United States.
  It was not until 1971 that Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming 
Horse and Burro Act. The law, which I also supported, established as 
national policy that ``wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be 
protected from capture, branding, harassment, and death'' and that ``no 
wild free-roaming horses or burros or their remains may be sold or 
transferred for consideration for processing into commercial 
products.''
  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service were 
tasked with enforcement of the law on public lands. Unfortunately, 
several reports have documented the failure by the agencies to properly 
manage these animals. As a result, the BLM currently has approximately 
22,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities where their feeding 
and care use up nearly half of the agency's budget for wild horse and 
burro management.
  The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act had been the law of the 
land until President Bush signed the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations 
bill on December 8, 2004. Included in the omnibus appropriations bill 
was a provision that would require the BLM to put up for public sale 
any wild horse taken off the range that is more than 10 years old and 
any horse that has been unsuccessfully offered for adoption three 
times. The BLM has estimated that about 8,400 mustangs out of 22,000 
being kept on seven sanctuaries meet that criteria.
  Surely there are actions that can be taken by the BLM to ensure the 
proper operation of the wild horse and burro program without resorting 
to the slaughter of these animals. Instead of taking the time to make 
the changes necessary to ensure the proper management of wild horses, 
this provision reaches for the butcher knife instead.
  In response, my friend and colleague from West Virginia, Rep. Nick 
Joe Rahall, has introduced H.R. 297, a bill that would restore the 
prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming 
horses and burros. I am pleased to join with him in his effort to 
overturn this egregious provision and reinstate Federal protections for 
one of the enduring symbols of the American frontier.
  In closing, I quote from British poet Ronald Duncan's Ode to the 
Horse:

       Where in this wide world can a man find nobility without 
     pride, friendship without envy or beauty without vanity? 
     Here: where grace is laced with muscle and strength by 
     gentleness confined. He serves without servility; he has 
     fought without enmity. There is nothing so powerful, nothing 
     less violent; there is nothing so quick, nothing less 
     patient. England's past has been bourne on his back. All our 
     history is his industry. We are his heirs; he our 
     inheritance. The Horse.
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