By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

We are united by our singular vision to end animal cruelty and create a humane world. So, when it comes to our federal policy work in the United States, it is essential to invite everyone to join this hopeful cause, regardless of their other political beliefs. We believe that a love of animals can bring much-needed nonpartisan solidarity.

That’s why, once a year, we gather in the U.S. Capitol to honor those legislators in Congress who have sponsored legislation and supported regulatory reforms that advance animal protection and worked to defend the progress we have made against any attempts to roll back compassionate gains.

The event is a fun and joyful one that brings together some of the most important champions of animal protection in the country.  At yesterday’s ceremony, we celebrated the service of 247 legislators—58 senators and 189 representatives—across 41 states, the District of Columbia and most of the U.S. territories—to the protection of animals. Together and separately, these are the legislators who made sure that our priority bills in the 118th Congress garnered bipartisan co-sponsorship representing more than half the House, and similar numbers in the Senate, and otherwise led the way.

Irrespective of which party controls the United States Congress or the executive branch, our goals are the same. We want to deliver the best possible public policy outcomes for animals, and we pursue our legislative and regulatory agenda on a strictly nonpartisan basis. It is our responsibility to do so, because animals are completely at the mercy of humans, and it’s our job to rally as many supporters to the cause as possible. We couldn’t realize our vision of a humane world if we did not bring people of disparate backgrounds and views—including legislators—into the fold.

In our eyes, the measures we champion are not in their essence political; what they are is pro-animal. When we look at an animal issue we see a condition of cruelty, suffering or need that demands action, not a political principle or ideology, and we seek allies willing to line up with us on the side of animals. It’s not their party but their recognition that the public cares about how animals are treated that counts, along with their determination to uphold high standards of care and concern for the millions of animals whose well-being depends on human goodwill.

Without dedicated allies in Congress, it would be difficult for us to achieve our public policy goals. The leaders we acknowledge at the Humane Awards event do not merely cast their own votes for the measures we champion. They are the people who introduce and advocate for the bills we’d like to see pass, the ones who help us to navigate the pitfalls and difficulties of the political landscape on which we operate. We rely on them to marshal votes and signatures for the regulations and rules we’d like to see adopted. And time and again, it is they who make the critical difference when it comes to the funding of enforcement of key animal welfare laws and defunding of programs we don’t support, such as targeted federally funded animal testing or lethal predator control.

They have also stepped up to fend off or extinguish political and legislative attacks on our work; in the 118th Congress, for example, they stood strong to oppose the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act and related measures intended to obliterate California’s Proposition 12 and 14 other state laws addressing intensive confinement of farm animals and public health. In addition, many of those we honored were essential in helping us to hold the line against a barrage of proposals to gut or destroy the Endangered Species Act and other bulwarks of wildlife protection.

We’re going to need even more such allies in the 119th Congress, since the threat landscape is even more complex for animals this year.

Year after year, from one congressional session to the next, we see the same kind of commitment play out. The elected officials who work hard to make government work better for animals don’t come to it in the spirit of politics. They come to it in the spirit of humanity, just as we do. 

Kitty Block is CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.