ROAM Act Going Up for Vote Today!

As is my usual habit, I was working away at my computer, just a few hours ago, doing some research on wild horse removals, and watching, or rather listening to the tv. I was listening to the U.S. House of Representative Hearings on C-SPAN (live) and there began great debate over the "Wild Horse Protection Act." Can you imagine that? Just as I was researching the issue here they go debating it live in the house. Who knew? Not me. Its just that I always have C-SPAN on. There you have it,..I confess. I am a C-SPAN junkie. The only downfall to being a C-SPAN Junkie is, after so long with all the bad news (and actions & inactions) coming out of Washington DC these days, ...with all that "bad news reporting," being constantly bombarded into your head, its hard to get interested in other such "mondane and ordinary" things, ..like watching no-brainer tv or worrying about how to spend my weekend or eee gads, forget about it, housework. Who cares about no-brainer tv, the weekend or housework when our country is going down the drain. I have to stay home and blog incessently in effort to change things for the better, of course, through kindness and compassion towards all living things.

Anyways, I listened as a representative from NC (a Ms. (something) Fox (R), testified (in so many words) that she thought with the state of the nation today and the fiscal crisis and all, with people losing their jobs and their houses she thought ....that we should be focusing on helping them,...and not no wild horses.

Then there was the rep from TX, a Louie Gohmert also a (R) who retty much echoed Ms. Foxs' sentiments,..he went on for nearly one half hour against the passing on the Wild Horse Bill....and asked us also to focus on "human problems" instead.

But it was representative Stephen Kings speech, a (R) from Iowa, that made me want to jump out of my seat and run over to the tv and reach through it, grab him by the neck and strangle him! He talked about the 5m dollar proposed allotment to (his exact words) "repair the rangeland damaged by the horses," and also blames the "glut" of "unwanted" horses in America today on the closing of the slaughterhouses in the USA. !!! Sound familiar? Yep. Same old pro-slaughter BS.
I am not even going to rehash the rebuttals to those arguments here. Most of you already know them by heart. The facts just dont seem to sink in with these people, as they are apparently ignored.

They did mention though, throughout the debates, that the bill was going up for a vote TOMORROW (which is TODAY by the way!)

...and then, only a few moments after end of dabates, I opened up my email and found this from the AWI;

-----------------------

House to Vote on Bill to Protect Wild Horses

Dear Humanitarian:

We have just learned that H.R. 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act, sponsored by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, will be voted on before the full House of Representatives tomorrow. Chairman Rahall’s ROAM Act will responsibly restore many of the guaranteed protections originally established in the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 that have been gutted by stealth riders and Bureau of Land Management's wanton mismanagement of these magnificent animals for decades. At a time when there are nearly as many wild horses in captivity as on the range this legislation is urgently needed.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Because time is of the essence please call your US Representative RIGHT NOW and urge her/him to support Chairman Rahall and vote "YES" on H.R. 1018. To find your Representative please visit www.compassionindex.org. While there, you can also send a quick email in support of the bill if you have not done so already. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Representative.

For more information on wild horses, click on title above; http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/sp/i/11223/pid/11223.


Please be sure to share this eAlert with friends, family and coworkers and urge them to call their legislator today!



Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President
www.awionline.org
www.compassionindex.org

For over 57 years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. Please join us in our ongoing campaigns to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Sign up for AWI eAlerts to receive the latest news on what you can do to help us protect all animals: http://www.awionline.org/.
----------

Well now I would say NOW is the time to get busy. Today IS the day!