Whitfield's legislation to prohibit the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses garnered the support of 311 House members and 57 Members of the United States Senate but was not brought to the floor of the House of Representatives because of an ethics complaint filed by individuals who sored horses . The individuals who filed the complaint had a total of 52 violations of the 1970 Horse Protection Act. In July 2016, the House Ethics Committee reproved him for failing to prohibit lobbying contacts between his staff and Connie Harriman Whitfield, a lobbyist for the Humane Society of the United States. Although the bill was introduced by Congressman Whitfield and had been a concern of his for many years, The Humane Society of the United States supported the legislation and was a part of a coalition of over 75 entities working to adopt Whitfield's legislation. The Ethics Committee issued a report stating that Whitfield's breach was unintentional. Whitfield said the individuals who filed the Complaint had accomplished their goal of stopping his legislation.