mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from new york for yielding me time , and i appreciate his leadership , as well as the gentleman from kentucky ( mr. whitfield ) xz4004310 and the gentleman from south carolina ( mr. spratt ) xz4003860 . 
i want to remind my colleagues that this particular amendment , which is a funding limitation , however , is still very similar to an amendment that the house voted on shortly before we broke before the memorial day district work period . 
that particular amendment passed in an overwhelming fashion and in a bipartisan fashion . 
so this is truly bipartisan when it comes to recognizing how valuable the horse is to this country and what a symbol it is of our freedom and how important it is to recognize this truly american icon . 
when americans think of the horse , i do not believe they think of it in terms of foreign cuisine on the tables of countries around the european area . 
this amendment has invoked a lot of emotion and misinformation . 
the opposition has said that this will increase the abuse of horses and horses running wild out west . 
such statements are not true . 
here are the facts . 
each year some 65 , 000 horses are slaughtered in this country for human consumption in europe and asia where they are sold in restaurants as a delicacy . 
another 30 , 000 are trucked to canada and mexico for slaughter . 
this amendment will end that slaughter of american horses for human consumption overseas . 
slaughter is not the same as humane euthanasia administered by a veterinarian in a very controlled environment . 
euthanasia of horses is administered by legal injection , whereas slaughtered is administered by unskilled , untrained workers using the captive bolt . 
many times this is administered improperly , causing unnecessary pain and suffering before death . 
passage of this amendment will not cause an overpopulation of horses . 
each year 690 , 000 horses die in the u.s. many of which are euthanized by a licensed veterinarian . 
slaughtered horses represent only 1 percent of horses that die each year . 
this would not result in an overpopulation of horses as some suggest . 
there are alternatives available . 
americans do not profit from slaughtering horses . 
this is an export-driven market . 
foreigners eat our horses and foreign companies make money , and we should stop looking at it in that perspective and start looking at it in the american perspective . 
