HumaneUSA Florida endorses Suzanne Kosmas for the 24th Congressional District.
Florida Today
BY JOHN McCARTHY
Suzanne Kosmas officially began her campaign Tuesday for the 24th Congressional District in her hometown of New Smyrna Beach.
The Democrat wasted no time in attacking incumbent Republican Tom Feeney of Oviedo. "It's time for a change and time for a change now," she said.
Speaking before several dozen supporters along the bank of the Indian River, Kosmas criticized Feeney's stands on everything from the Iraq war to health care to the environment.
"These are not our priorities," the former state representative said over and over when discussing Feeney's voting records.
Among the topics Kosmas touched on:
* The war in Iraq: Kosmas said she spoke out against the war before the U.S. sent troops to Iraq and continues to believe the war was a mistake. "Now it is time to come up with a plan and get out of Iraq."
* The U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Kosmas said she thinks the nation needs an energy policy that emphasizes research on alternative energy sources. "We need an energy policy that works for us, not against us.
* Space: Kosmas said if elected she'd be a strong advocate for the space program. "We'd like to see funding come around for the extension of the shuttle, as well as for the acceleration of the Constellation program, if possible."
Despite the glaring sun and temperatures in the upper 80s, Kosmas supporters seemed energized. "I thought it was wonderful," Dorothy Brown of New Smyrna Beach said of Kosmas's speech. "She mentioned all the topics that are important to me.
Perhaps the most vocal supporter, though, was 14-year-old Tyler Kosmas. "You go, Grandma," he called out after the speech as his grandmother was being interviewed by TV news crew.
The following is one reason why the Humane USA PAC is endorsing Suzanne Kosmas to unseat Tom Feeney:
Rep. Tom Feeney Votes Against Protecting Primates, Public Health and Safety
(June 18, 2008) WASHINGTON — Last night, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) yet again voted against a common-sense animal welfare measure that was overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. This time, he voted against a bipartisan bill called the Captive Primate Safety Act, an anti-cruelty and public safety measure written to stop the movement of primates for the pet trade. The House of Representatives passed the bill by an overwhelming vote of 302 to 96.
"Primates belong in the wild, not in our basements and bedrooms," said Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. "Tom Feeney is out of step with Florida citizens who want common-sense animal welfare policies and want their communities protected from dangerous attacks and diseases."
The bipartisan Captive Primate Safety Act, H.R. 2964, prohibits the interstate and foreign commerce in apes, monkeys, and other primates for the exotic pet trade. These animals can inflict serious injuries and spread life-threatening disease, and the average pet owner cannot provide for the animals' basic social, psychological, and physical needs in captivity. These highly intelligent and social creatures are often confined in small cages, and their teeth are pulled out to make them less dangerous.
Twenty states already prohibit private possession of these animals as pets, but primates are easily obtained over the Internet and through out-of-state dealers and auctions, making federal legislation necessary to complement the efforts of state law enforcement. The bill has received strong support from a broad range of scientists and organizations, including Dr. Jane Goodall, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The state of Florida allows certain primates as pets but is in the process of reviewing requirements and increasing standards for keeping some species. In April 2008, a monkey wearing a diaper was running loose outside an Orlando apartment complex and had to be recaptured. The animal had apparently escaped though an open window.
The Humane Society Legislative Fund noted that Rep. Feeney has consistently voted against common-sense humane laws. He has voted to allow the trophy shooting of threatened polar bears, to ship American horses to other countries for slaughter where horse meat is considered a delicacy, and not to include pets in disaster planning.
Heather Veleanu and Carole Baskin spoke on the WINZ Radio show
in Miami, FL on 3/29/07 about the need for better animal legislation. You
can listen to the 30 minute program HERE.
2007 Fundraising Event
Have a party in your home to raise money for Humane USA. Contact
Carole Baskin if you are the kind of person
who cares about animal issues and has the connections to host a
successful fundraiser for animal friendly candidates. Donations
to the Humane USA PAC are not tax deductible, making this the hardest
money to raise for the animals. Successful fundraisers will
be people who have a lot of friends who understand that it takes
animal friendly politicians to enact animal friendly laws.
2006 Questionnaire
Ask your representatives at the state level to complete
this questionnaire and turn it in to the address at the top to
see if their attitudes toward animals would warrant Humane USA's
endorsement. Click HERE for the PDF.
For an Excel sheet of all of the candidates and whether
or not they are opposed and for a list of how each encumbent voted,
where that information was available, click HERE.
Humane USA's first ever Kids, Cats and Candidates Day was a tremendous success. 178 guests, including 15 candidates enjoyed a beautiful day of getting to know each other in the relaxed setting of the sanctuary. $1527.00 was raised for the cause and 81 families agreed to join Humane USA's mailing list to stay informed about animal issues and how they can help. The kids (and adults) enjoyed their Valentine's Day cards and lots of people posed with " Bill Clinton ". Tim Schoonouer won the 3 days and 2 nights donated by Holiday Inn.
As always, the volunteers did a marvelous job of parking everyone, getting everyone set up and secure and then making sure that the day was fun and safe for all involved. Heather Veleanu, the Chair of the Humane USA FL Steering Committee drove up from South Florida to greet guests while they waited for the next tour and did a fantastic job of raising more than $500.00 for donated art. More HERE
An Active Chapter
Humane USA Florida had a successful first year and is entering an important second year. I wanted to fill you in on what we've accomplished and some exciting upcoming events…
Humane USA Florida Endorsements
We are immediately working to provide Humane USA questionnaires to every candidate running for statewide office here in Florida . We are also analyzing the legislators and candidates we know and determining which campaigns Humane USA Florida will endorse. We are planning to provide sample Humane USA Florida ballots for humane minded voters this November.
There are 18 million residents in Florida. Statistically half have pets. If we could get each pet owner, or animal lover, to donate, just $10.00 this year that would be more than $80,000,000.00 we could use to change the political landscape of Florida. How many people do you know who could make a donation in lieu of some unnecessary, obligatory gift as a present to a friend? What better gift to give than one of compassion?
If you didn't get an embroidered hat and wish to order one, specify pink, denim blue or white. They are 15.00 incl. shipping. Bumper stickers or screen savers are 5.00 each incl. shipping. Email Carole Baskin at MakeADifference@HumaneUSA.org to pay with credit card or make a check or money order payable to Humane USA and mail to P.O. Box 340189 Tampa, FL 33694-0189 or call 813 493-4564. Click on the hat to see it larger.
Florida animal protection advocates are banding together to form a powerful political voice for animals . Please join us to learn more about how you can help! We kicked off our volunteer meetings in Tampa on Sept. 8, 2005 (more meetings in South and North Florida to be announced).
Inadequate laws which are poorly enforced are at the heart of nearly every issue we, as animal protectionists, care about. How often have you wondered, "how can this be legal?"
Until now, the political voices of animal advocates have been kept to a whisper because traditional non-profit organizations (501c3's) are limited in their ability to lobby and legally prohibited working on behalf of candidates or affecting the outcome of an election. We must act outside those limitations and form an identifiable voting block - it is only then we will begin to see tangible legal improvements for animals.
Humane USA Florida exists so that qualified people who care about animals will be elected to our state and federal legislatures. The PAC also intends to focus on crucial state and federal elections and forge closer relationships with candidates, support and oppose legislation as appropriate, lobby legislators, contact the press, and in all other ways lobby for more protections for animals.
Speaking as one political voice through Humane USA Florida, animal protection advocates will finally be heard.
Thanks to those who joined us at our kickoff meeting in Tampa. Stay tuned for future meeting dates in North and South Florida. Sign up for free by clicking the box at right> >
Heather Veleanu Florida@HumaneUSA.org Chair of Steering Committee for Humane USA of FL and Carole Baskin MakeADifference@HumaneUSA.org Director, Humane USA, Steering Committee Member, Humane USA of FL
Proposed changes to Florida's Wildlife Regulations Click Here
Links to sites of interest to Florida Chapter members Click Here
Spreadsheets
2004 List of exotic animal owners in Florida Click Here
2006 Mail Merge list of Senators and Congressmen for letter writing Click Here
For your event
To collect credit card payments from donors use this form and be sure to collect their employer info as well in the blanks proviced. Get the form HERE.
Hand out explaining F.A.Q. about Humane USA. Get the Word document HERE.
These vendors are willing to help you with your party and tabling needs by offering a discount if you tell them the event is for Humane USA:
Aspire Attire (a donor and creator of the hats above) will provide logo hats, tees, and more, all at 10 % off his regular wholesale prices to Humane USA functions. Minimum orders apply. Contact Bruce Wallin bwallin@tampabay.rr.com 13942 W. Hillsborough Av. Tampa, FL 33635 813.792.7679
Dan Mar Productions for themed parties, like Casino Night, Mardi Gras, the 50's etc. CasinoNight.biz
Florida Wholesale Printing will give you better-than-wholesale prices if you are printing something to promote Humane USA, just contact Tim Poe tim@flaprint.com 813-933-7746 1717 E Busch Blvd. Suite 1001 Tampa, Florida 33612 FX: 813-933-7738 http://flaprint.com/
Hunter Littlefield Publishing will wholesale costume jewelry and weight loss books for your house or office parties up to full scale trade shows. Just contact the author, Herb Hamilton and tell him you are with Humane USA. mrhh@verizon.net 813.931.3039 8910 N. Dale Mabry Highway Suite 10 Tampa, FL 33614 MissionPossibleWeighLoss.com
Promote Humane USA of Florida
Copy and paste this web sticker into your website's pages or your emails to promote Humane USA Florida. Be sure to link to: http://www.humaneusa.org/humaneusafl.htm
Copy and paste this web sticker into your website's pages or your emails to promote Humane USA Florida. Be sure to link to: http://www.humaneusa.org/humaneusafl.htm
Member Sign In
As a Steering Committee Member, you may enter the password protected section of Humane USA by clicking the button below and then entering your password in the pop up box:
To join or help support Florida's Chapter of Humane USA contact:
For a complete list of current Federal Bills and Federal Issues visitHSUS.
For a complete list of current State Bills and State Issues visitHSUS.
Clicking the button below will take you off Humane USA's site to Big Cat Rescue's Capitol Advantage site that promotes bills primarily regarding exotic cats.
One man said, "I have a dream." and changed the way humans perceived each other forever. Four long haired boys from England changed music. Twelve apostles changed the course of religion. What can 60 people, who came together for the first time on September 8th, do to change the way animals are treated in this country? Everything!
Humane USA of Florida made history recently when a group of concerned leaders in Florida gathered to form a steering committee. The national organization, Humane USA was formed in 1999 by leaders from all of the major animal protection organizations when Wayne Pacelle and Linda Nealon shared a vision they had of a Political Action Committee devoted entirely to an animal focused agenda. Since its formation the Humane USA PAC has been responsible for changing many laws to better protect animals and has helped animal friendly candidates gain offices while keeping out those who would be detrimental to animal welfare.
Six years ago, Nanci Alexander and Heather Veleanu had a vision of bringing Humane USA to Florida and creating a chapter that would focus primarily on issues that affect the animals in Florida . This year that dream became reality when the 10 member steering committee met and set out an agenda for building a strong coalition of mainstream, humane minded citizens who would become the political voice for animals in Florida. Within months, those 10 had enlisted the help of 60 more and it was time to bring them all together.
Heather Veleanu came to Big Cat Rescue from Ft. Lauderdale as the guest speaker to share the vision of Humane USA of Florida with the public. She explained the beginnings of Humane USA as the nation's first major political action committee devoted to the task of electing humane-minded candidates to public office at the federal and state levels.
She relayed that strong animal protection laws are produced by humane-minded elected officials, and the best way to secure a large crop of humane-minded legislators is to support them during their election campaigns.
She pointed out that it is important to note that because of their charitable status with the Internal Revenue Service, other animal protection groups are legally barred from endorsing candidates. Humane USA is the only national animal protection group that is allowed to participate in candidate election campaigns.
Heather shared with the group the fact that during 1999 and 2000 - after Humane USA launched its operations - the Congress passed 11 new laws to protect animals, including laws to protect great apes, to establish chimpanzee sanctuaries, to ban the sale of dog and cat fur, to validate non-animal tests, and to halt barbaric practices such as "animal crush" videos and shark finning. She remarked that it was no accident that Congress passed so many laws after Humane USA began its work.
Everyone was so pumped up after the meeting that they bought lots of Humane USA hats, bumper stickers and screen savers and made donations. Jamie Veronica put out a challenge to the group by offering to match all of their donations for the evening and Howard Baskin, not to be outdone, further inspired everyone to give generously by matching them as well. Now, thanks to all of the concerned citizens who joined at the end of the presentation, Humane USA has the beginnings of a strong Florida chapter, and will be involved in hundreds of races at the state and federal levels.
Attendees included volunteers from Big Cat Rescue, Florida Voices for Animals, No More Homeless Pets, Kitty City , several animal rescue groups and lots of people who simply understand that you can't get better laws to protect the animals if the people in office don't care. Each one of these visionaries will be spreading the word about the good work Humane USA of Florida is doing to elect humane minded candidates to office. To watch for future events and fundraisers, visit them online at www.HumaneUSA.org/HumaneUSAFL.htm
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