The widow of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson wants to protect a herd of wild horses in Southern Missouri that her husband fought to save from capture.

Jo Ann Emerson wrote a letter to President Bill Clinton Friday asking him to reconsider a veto of the bipartisan legislation that contains the Wild Horses Bill.

Emerson is running as an independent candidate in the 8th Congressional District.

"I understand that your Administration has listed several items within this legislation that it finds objectionable -- all of them in Republican congressional districts throughout the country," Emerson said in the letter. "One of these issues involves my late husband's efforts to save the wild horses located in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Southern Missouri."

The Wild Horses Bill was unanimously passed by the House last November and by the Senate in June. "This is a classic example of ivory-tower Washington bureaucrats not getting the hint. It truly illustrates the need to put people and their interests before politics."

The current legislation was written with input from the National Park Service and is a common-sense approach, Emerson said.

"If the President kills this bill, I will introduce similar legislation on my first day if elected to Congress," she said. "The people of Southern Missouri must be heard and the wild horses must be saved."

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt also have requested intervention in the capture of the horses.