Dear Sportsmen Friends,Sponsorship of HR1472, the federal Anti-Bear Baiting Bill, developed into a major litmus test of Washington sportsmen's v. animal rightist, anti-hunter's support. As the result of the very heavy-duty, late lobbying against the bill, legislators continued to pull their names from HR1472 well after the bill was passed over last Tuesday in the House Resources Committee. Normally, at best, one congressman will withdraw his support from a bill, after realizing he'd made a mistake. When all was said and done, 65 legislators had removed their names from this Humane Society of the US - Fund for Animals bill or voted against it after cosponsoring it. This sort of abandonment and repudiation is unprecedented. Unfortunately, in the only Washington hunting vote in recent memory, HSUS managed to get more votes than expected.
On Thursday night, 7/17, sponsors of H1472, which set the precedent of abrogating state wildlife department rulemaking authority, attempted to amend the Interior Department Appropriations Bill with language that had that same effect. A wide array of sportsmen groups, including the Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA), helped convince the Congress to defeat this measure by a 255-163 vote.
Bob Kane
Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance
http://saova.org
Forwarding and cross posting encouraged.
Here's that tabulation. How did your legislator vote?
[Roll No. 382]
see http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote. ... number=382
An "aye" vote is an anti-hunter and different fonts delineate party affiliation.