A congressional subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that had been called to discuss legislation that would create a federal oversight board for racing did not reveal a clear path forward for the bill, which remains controversial in the racing industry. The Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee convened for a little over two hours to discuss the bill, hearing from six witnesses from the racing industry and a representative of an animal-welfare lobbying group. Four of the witnesses said they supported the legislation, while three others said they were opposed. The legislation, which is called the Horse Racing Integrity Act, was reintroduced to Congress last year, marking the third time that a bill with similar language has been introduced to the House of Representatives. The bill would appoint the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a non-profit private company, as the leader of a board that would devise and enforce medication policies for the racing industry nationwide. Each of the iterations of the legislation has gotten a single hearing from the House, but the bills have never advanced to a vote. The hearing this year was conducted in the wake of nationwide coverage of a spate of horse deaths at Santa Anita Park early in 2019, and supporters of the bill have used that backdrop to urge legislators to pass the bill, under the claim that uniformity of racing rules across the U.S. would lead to fewer injuries on the racetrack. “This bill directly addresses one of the leading causes of breakdowns,” said Chris McCarron, the retired Hall of Fame Jockey, who has become an outspoken advocate for the bill and for a reduction in the number of medications used on horses. Supporters of the bill spoke stridently about a perceived crisis of confidence in the racing industry due to the concern over the Santa Anita deaths, which sparked several movements across the country seeking new policies and protocols to address racehorse injuries. William Lear, the vice chairman of one of the most powerful organizations in racing, The Jockey Club, stated that federal oversight of racing was not the “choice of first resort” for The Jockey Club, but rather a response to the inadequacy of efforts over the past two decades to unify racing rules across the country. “Many people in this industry believe we are staring into the abyss,” Lear said. “And that this bill represents the best path forward.” Opponents of the bill claimed at the hearing that the legislation would duplicate existing efforts already underway in the industry, and several individuals who testified singled out the bill’s prohibition on the use of Lasix on raceday as a particularly harmful provision, claiming that the use of the diuretic has been proven to be effective in mitigating the severity of bleeding in the lungs. The use of Lasix on race day has divided the U.S. racing industry for decades. One witness, Dennis Drazin, the head of a horsemen-led management company that runs Monmouth Park, said that he opposed the bill because it “does not go far enough” on issues that would reduce injuries, and he urged the legislators on the committee to exercise patience while a group of racing representatives continues to work on an alternate bill that he said would more directly address safety issues. “If you can give us another six months, we could come to you with a consensus bill that will result in better outcomes,” Drazin said. The effort referenced by Drazin is being overseen by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, a trade group for the industry that includes representatives of every major racing constituency on its board. The NTRA has been quietly shepherding the effort to draw up an alternate bill to the existing legislation since early last summer, in large part because of concerns that the existing bill cannot pass without unanimity in the industry. The effort is also being conducted because of fears that the industry will need a coordinated response to deal with the fallout from the Santa Anita deaths. A total of 10 representatives of the committee asked questions of the panelists, but no clear conclusion could be drawn about whether there existed a consensus to bring the bill to a vote. According to supporters, a total of 226 representatives have so far indicated their support for the bill. The bill is opposed by several powerful organizations, including Churchill Downs Inc., which is based in Kentucky. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, represents Kentucky, and it is highly unlikely that McConnell would allow a bill to reach the Senate floor without Churchill’s blessing, according to racing lobbyists. The bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat from New York, and Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican from Kentucky, spoke in favor of the bill, with Tonko chiding opponents of the legislation that appeared as witnesses. “We’re all in theory talking about the same goals, and yet all of you seem to oppose this legislation that would make this a reality,” said Tonko, referencing the legislation’s goal of providing uniform rules across the U.S. “The time for talk is done. We have a plan before us that is an action plan that respects the equine athlete from a medication perspective.” Barr cited sustained declines in wagering handle as justification enough for the legislation. “The decline in handle is an indication that we need reform,” Barr said. Joe De Francis, a witness on the panel who is the head of a horse racing advisory committee at the Humane Society of the U.S., said that federal oversight was necessary simply because racing has been unable to implement adequate policies to address medication use for decades. “We can’t solve this problem by ourselves,” De Francis said. “We’ve tried this for decades. Every initiative has failed miserably.” Marty Irby, the head of a lobbying group called Animal Wellness Action, said that the stakes for racing were dangerously high, considering calls in California for the sport to be banned. “If Congress fails to pass the [bill], and obstructionists within the industry continue to hinder the legislation, then we may very well see those who demand horseracing to be brought to an end to prevail,” Irby said.