Editor's Note: This article was updated on Aug. 1 to reflect additional information obtained by TheHorse.com.

U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky), the primary sponsor of a measure that would ban the use of performance packages on Tennessee Walking Horses in training and competition, said ethics allegations against him are unfounded and have nothing to do with congressional review of the legislation.

Introduced last year HR 1518, or the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, would amend the Horse Protection Act of 1970 to forbid the use of action devices, including metal chains, stacks, and pads (known as performance packages). In addition, the PAST Act would increase federal penalties for anyone who sores a horse and would require the USDA to assign a licensed inspector if a Tennessee Walking Horse show management indicates its intent to hire one. Whitfield's bill remains pending in the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

In a July 25 written statement, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics indicated it had received an ethics complaint against Whitfield on July 10. The complaint alleges that Whitfield's wife, Constance Harriman Whitfield, a consultant for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), unfairly influenced the congressman regarding the legislation