Stefanik’s Election to Leadership Gives Animals a Better Chance

The events of January 6th didn’t invent extreme partisanship. They punctuated it. Since then, it seems we’ve been dealing with extreme levels of acrimony and division and they don’t seem likely to subside soon.

At a time like this, we must remember as individuals and as a society that we do have shared values. More than ever, we should find and focus on issues that both parties can swing behind and rebuild some of our common bonds.

I’ve always felt that compassion for animals and a steadfast opposition to animal cruelty is one of those shared values. We as a nation have had anti-cruelty laws that are nearly as old as the republic. Animal fighting. Torture. Wildlife trafficking. These are things all good people can agree are vices.

The Democrat leaders in Congress are all stalwart animal protection advocates. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, in particular, have always had a real heart for animals.

With Rep. Elise Stefanik’s, R-N.Y., election as House Republican Conference Chair, we now have someone in the Republican leadership who can move the caucus in a better direction when it comes to opposition to cruelty. That’s why Animal Wellness Action endorsed her in the last election.

When the House passed the U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act in July of 2019 that would end one of the most egregious abuses in the equine show world, Republican leadership – including Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming – voted against the bill. It was a no-brainer and surprising that any caring lawmakers would vote against a measure to stop the torture of Tennessee Walking Horses. Stefanik, however, was a longtime cosponsor of the bill, and in the end, a majority of House Republicans voted in support of the measure endorsed by countless animal wellness and horse industry organizations.

Stefanik also voted in support of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, H.R. 263, that passed the House last December, with Cheney opposing the measure. She did so in spite of the bill’s endorsement by the National Sheriff’s Association, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and Fraternal Order of Police. H.R. 263 would prohibit private ownership of big cats such as tigers, lions, and leopards that continue to plague American suburbs in key districts like we saw last week in Houston. It's a dangerous game of Russian roulette to allow these apex predators to be bred in captivity and housed in suburbia, and the bill would keep families and children safe from harm.

When the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act passed the U.S. House in the Fall of 2019, Stefanik, a co-sponsor, voted in favor of it despite the Ranking Member of the committee of jurisdiction opposing it. Again, Cheney voted NAY.

And Stefanik backed an Animal Wellness Action-conceived appropriations amendment to provide $2 million for the establishment of an Animal Cruelty Crimes Unit at the U.S. Dept. of Justice to help enforce the laws she’s previously supported. And of course, Cheney voted against the provision too.

To be sure, we’ve had more than a few moments of bipartisanship on these issues. There have been six new animal protection laws secured since 2018: the first anti-cruelty statute, the Preventing Animal Cruelty, and Torture (PACT) Act; a ban on cockfighting in the U.S. Territories with the Parity in Animal Cruelty Enforcement (PACE) Act; criminal penalties for people who harm animals in a setting where there are other forms of domestic violence, in the form of the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act; the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act; a rewards program administered by the State Department to provide incentives for those who report terrorists funding their operations with the sale of exotic parts in the Rescuing Animals With Rewards (RAWR) Act; and the enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act to ban race-day doping in Thoroughbred racing.

The House Republican caucus has some strong leaders on animal welfare, including Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and newly sworn-in freshmen like Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., and Barry Moore, R-Ala. We need more of it, and we need Republican leaders to turn this around. Animal advocates are very hopeful seeing Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., leading the Agriculture Committee for his caucus and Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., leading Natural Resources in place of Rob Bishop.

We hope that Stefanik’s election as House Republican Conference Chair gives animals a better chance when Republican leaders formulate their caucus positions. It’s good policy and good politics to follow her lead.

Marty Irby is the executive director at Animal Wellness Action in Washington, D.C., who was named as one of The Hill's Top Lobbyists for 2019 and 2020, and was recently honored by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, II for his work to protect horses. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @MartyIrby.