mr. chairman , i thank the chairman for yielding me time , and i appreciate the opportunity to say a few words on this issue . 
as i listen to this debate and i am listening to the points that are being made by the other side , and , by the way , i rise in opposition to the sweeney amendment , one of the questions that has not been answered here is what is the distinction between a steer , a hog , and a horse ? 
why would we elevate the horse to a level beyond that of another animal ? 
does it have a certain intrinsic value that distinguishes it ? 
that is something that i would like to hear , but i think it is important for the people who own horses to manage their horses . 
another question is , should horses be eaten ? 
i have not really heard the answer to that . 
i know they do that in other places of the world . 
i have never eaten a horse . 
i had some zebra in africa last year and , actually , it was the best meat i had on the continent . 
i never felt the desire to eat a horse , but they do that in other countries . 
we have a horse herd that needs to be managed . 
whatever that is , whether it is a 1 percent , a 2 percent or a 10 percent of the herd that is slaughtered , all of it does something that allows them to cull out the herd . 
it saves those horses from disease and starvation . 
and if you have seen those horses as i have in dry lot that were not taken care of , you do not want to turn these horses over to the people who do not have the means to take care of them . 
but the u.s. horse herd should be managed . 
we should be humane with our animals . 
we should treat them well and give them veterinarian treatment , and those that do not fit into the plans need to be managed and taken care of and euthanized . 
now there is also the address made that we are doing this for foreign interests , that this is for the interests of foreign markets and foreign palates . 
we have a balance of trade that is now a minus $ 617 billion a year . 
what is wrong with marketing american products that help that , reduce the deficit in the balance of trade ? 
and , by the way , if it is the euros that come from france , that is okay with me . 
i think that is a great way for us to start to repair the balance of trade . 
another thing we can not do is set up a species in this country that sets it up as a sacred species . 
american horses can not be turned into sacred cows by the sweeney amendment . 
