Anti-cockfighting bill facing tough time on Capitol Hill

(Washington-AP) -- It looks like Congress may not get to vote on an anti-cockfighting bill this year.

Representative Larry Combest of Texas is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The committee held a hearing on the bill today.

Combest won't say whether he will schedule additional action on the legislation.

He says he's concerned about what he calls the bill's unintended consequences. Combest says the limited time remaining in the session would also be a factor.

The bill would close what supporters view as a loophole in current law that makes it illegal to transport animals across the state line to fight.

Fighting roosters were exempted from that law and can be legally shipped to the three states that still allow cockfighting -- Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana.