September 9th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today condemned the Senate for invoking cloture on Cass Sunstein to be the White House’s “Regulatory Czar,” calling him “a radical litigation menace with more than one axe to grind.”
“Despite the extensive revelations of Cass Sunstein’s extreme views on animal rights, hunting, and scientific testing of animals, the Senate has chosen to simply take Mr. Sunstein’s word for it that he will not issue regulations that match his own views,” Sunstein said.
“Meanwhile, there has been no confirmation from the Obama Administration that it will not direct Mr. Sunstein to issue regulations that would harm cattle production, hunting, and the safe testing of drugs and products,” Wilson added. “Senators are now going to have to explain to their constituents just why they are throwing hunters, cattlemen, and consumers in their home states under the bus.”
In April, Barack Obama nominated Cass Sunstein to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget. This post is also known as the “Regulatory Czar,” since all major regulatory actions by the federal government are subject to review by this office.
In August, Senate Republicans had blocked a unanimous consent resolution to approve Sunstein without any roll call that had been attempted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “Those who forced Reid to subject Sunstein to a roll call deserve recognition,” said Wilson, “because at least the American people know that Senators voting ‘yes’ had no problem with Sunstein’s radical views.”
Today, the Senate voted 63-35 to pave the way for a final vote on Sunstein later this week that Wilson called “a critical vote,” urging the Senate to reject the nomination.
In a speech at Harvard in 2007, Sunstein told an audience, “We ought to ban hunting, I suggest, if there isn’t a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It’s time now.”
Sunstein favors granting legal rights to animals. In 2002 he wrote in “The Rights of Animals: A Very Short Primer,” “We could even grant animals a right to bring suit without insisting that animals are persons, or that they are not property.”
Sunstein also supported “further regulation” against hunting, animal testing and farming. “We should focus attention not only on the ‘enforcement gap,’ but on the areas where current law offers little or no protection. In short, the law should impose further regulation on hunting, scientific experiments, entertainment, and (above all) farming to ensure against unnecessary animal suffering.”
In a letter to farm bureaus nationwide sent in August, Americans for Limited Government alerted farmers and cattlemen of Sunstein’s views on animal rights. Days later, the American Farm Bureau announced their endorsement of Sunstein.
“The regulatory czar is an extremely powerful position, and if his views become standing regulation, the cattle industry in America could be destroyed, unsafe products could on their way to markets, and forests overpopulated with animals that can no longer be hunted who will starve instead,” Wilson said.
“Every senator who voted to end the filibuster on Sunstein has necessarily associated him or herself with his extremist designs. This is now a radical Senate. Every American wants to have the right to choose what to eat and purchase at the grocery store or at the farm stand, and the vote in favor of Sunstein was a vote against that right,” Wilson concluded.
Attachments:
Bill Wilson Letter to Farm Bureaus Nationwide, August 27th, 2009
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
# # #