mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
i come from the district that has by far and away more wild horses in it than any district in the united states , bar none . 
of the 30 , 000 horses we are talking about , 20 , 000 of them are in the second district of nevada . 
this amendment , if it is passed , will be a rule of unintended consequences on what happens to the management of these horses . 
my colleagues , in nevada horses do not always look beautiful like the horse that we see in black beauty . 
sometimes they are misshapen . 
sometimes they are deformed . 
that is because we can not manage 20 , 000 horses on land which does not look like kentucky , does not look like west virginia . 
these horses get starved , they are weakened , they become diseased and , of course , they are not as easily adopted as before . 
if this amendment is passed , the unintended consequence will be to prevent the bureau of land management from properly managing . 
and today this amendment is moot . 
the bureau of land management today announced strict new rules for the sale of wild horses . 
these changes will ensure america 's wild horses and burros go to good homes , and the new rules will expressly prohibit the sale of these animals for slaughter . 
specifically , before horses are sold buyers must sign a contract that will bind them to providing humane care for the horse or burro . 
buyers can not sell or transfer ownership of any of the purchased horses or burros to any person or organization that intend to process them for commercial products . 
anyone falsifying or concealing information in that contract is subject to criminal penalties under u.s. law . 
additionally , the blm is working to ensure that all three u.s. horse processing plants make certain any blm horses , which are easily identified by a unique brand under its mane , are turned away and the proper authorities are notified . 
in sum , the new blm rules will make it a crime to sell wild horses for slaughter , yet will allow for the sale of these animals to buyers seeking to provide them good caring homes . 
i applaud the bush administration and the bureau of land management for taking responsible action to assure america 's wild horses and burros are cared for , and i would like to thank the ford motor company and the take pride in america program , which this amendment will stop dead in its tracks , for supporting blm in this effort and creating the save the mustangs fund . 
