Congressional Recess Leaves Animal Laws in Limbo

When Congress hustled out of town in September, it left a lot of unfinished business. Both the House Agriculture Committee and the full Senate had approved amendments to their farm bills that would prohibit attending or bringing a child to an animal fight. The House bill, however, has not yet come to the floor for a vote. The House Armed Services Committee added the full text of another bill—H.R. 4103, the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act (see Spring 2012 AWI Quarterly)—to its defense reauthorization bill, which the full House approved in May. The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), plans to offer the same language as an amendment when the full Senate takes up its version of the bill. Final action on both of these issues should occur during the lame-duck session later this year.