Republican political pundit Mary Matalin denounced an Iowa bill that would criminalize undercover filming on Iowa farms, officials from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said today.
In a letter to House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Garner), Speaker of the Iowa House Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) and Rep. Annette Sweeney (R-Alden), Matalin, the wife of Democrat political analyst James Carville, asked the Iowa House reconsider the legislation, House File 589, saying such undercover investigations would help “enforce animal welfare laws,” and similar bills elsewhere in the U.S. have failed.
The text of Matalin’s letter is copied below:
Dear Majority Leader Upmeyer,
Greetings. I’m sorry to hear that House File 589, which would criminalize filming on farms, is still getting pushed along in Iowa. A similar bill died in my home state of Illinois, as have others in Missouri, Florida, and soon in Minnesota. Lawmakers and consumers from across the political spectrum have found that while promoting agriculture is of prime importance, so is making sure that workers at farms and slaughterhouses adhere to anti-cruelty laws.
The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act is very poorly funded for enforcement. Local law enforcement has been happy to work in hand with any party revealing illegal activities. Without PETA’s investigation of a Hormel supplier’s farm in Iowa, the Greene County Sheriff wouldn’t have been able to file 22 cruelty charges in a case which Pork magazine said “should be a wake-up call for the pork industry.”
If House File 589 succeeds, it may well single Iowa out as the state with something to hide, which I know can’t be the case.
/s/ Mary Matalin
