FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 12, 1997
CONTACT:
Heidi Prescott, (301) 585-2591, Heidi@fund.org
Representative Sara Steelman, (717) 772-2046
HARRISBURG, PA. -- On the last day of session before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives convened for summer recess, House Republican leaders yesterday squelched a vote on legislation introduced by Representative Sara Steelman (D-Indiana County) to ban the use of live pigeons in shooting contests.
Speaker of the House Matt Ryan (R-Delaware County) and House Majority Leader John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) threatened to kill another animal bill -- a bill to protect puppies and pet owners -- unless the pigeon shoot legislation was withdrawn. Because the Republican leaders will not bring pigeon shoot legislation up for a vote on its own merits, Representative Steelman had introduced the pigeon shoot legislation as an amendment to another crime bill, House Bill 235, which was scheduled for a vote this morning. She withdrew the pigeon shoot amendment so as not to jeopardize the other bills.
Says Heidi Prescott, National Director of The Fund for Animals, "Republican leaders are directly responsible for the violent deaths of tens of thousands of tame birds at pigeon shoots across Pennsylvania. The man who bit the head off a live bird last year in Hegins might as well be elected to the position of House Majority Leader, because he is the kind of person Republican leaders are defending."
The last time the House of Representatives voted on the bill to ban live pigeon shoots -- in 1994 -- Representatives voted 99 to 93 in favor of banning pigeon shoots, but fell three votes short of the 102 votes needed to pass a bill. Despite the bill's growing support, Republican House leaders have kept the legislation from receiving another fair vote in the last three years.
Says Representative Sara Steelman, "The Republican leadership's strong-arm tactics typify the need to change the rules by which the House operates. Leadership has absolute power over legislation, and in this case, absolute power has corrupted absolutely."
