Environment/Animal Cruelty

I believe that we have a duty to protect the environment and life which inhabits it. Our valley is home to the beautiful Shenandoah National Park. I want to protect America’s national parks and make sure America stays America the beautiful. Animal cruelty is an area where my opponent and I disagree. I’m a lifelong animal lover. I’ve grown up with wonderful pets and my family has sponsored animals at farm sanctuary. Needless animal cruelty should never be tolerated. God created the world and entrusted the creatures here to our care. How one treats animals and creatures weaker than themselves speaks volumes about their character. My opponent has a zero rating from the HSLF. He’s one of only two Congressmen from Virginia with a zero rating. He’s voted against protecting horses from soaring which is a method where horses are tortured to in order to force the horse to perform a certain way in competitions. He’s against protecting sharks from de-fining, where fishermen (often from China) capture live sharks, cut their fins off, and dump them back into the water where they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die. He’s against combatting illegal wildlife trafficking and every single other piece of common-sense legislation which provides basic protection for animals. This isn’t a political issue, all those bills passed with overwhelming support from both parties, including the vast majority of Republicans. I can’t believe I have to say that animal abuse is something I’m against, but since it’s a way to differentiate myself from my opponent, I will. Let’s keep America beautiful!