[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2360 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2360

 To establish the Office of Law Enforcement in the United States Fish 
                         and Wildlife Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 1993

  Mr. Lehman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the Office of Law Enforcement in the United States Fish 
                         and Wildlife Service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service Law Enforcement Clarification and Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The law enforcement responsibilities of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service have evolved far beyond the 
        realm of ensuring compliance with hunting and fishing 
        regulations. Increasing visitor utilization and urbanization of 
        refuges bring with them associated problems of crime. The 
        expansion of international treaties and attendant 
        responsibilities have increased tremendously in recent years. 
        The illegal trade in wildlife products is becoming increasingly 
        well organized and commercial and is often associated with 
        other criminal activities such as narcotics, money laundering, 
        weapons dealing, and tax fraud.
            (2) The concerns and needs of the United States Fish and 
        Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Division are not adequately 
        represented at the directorate level and the degree of agency 
        support for law enforcement is at the discretion of the 
        Director and, therefore, is inconsistent over time.
            (3) Partly as a result of the lack of directorate level 
        representation for law enforcement, the Law Enforcement 
        Division is grossly understaffed and underfunded. Three decades 
        of documentation clearly show that this is a chronic problem. 
        The division is unable to adequately enforce the wildlife 
        protection laws enacted by the Congress and as a result--
                    (A) wildlife populations are in danger;
                    (B) although the legal and illegal trade in 
                wildlife products is increasing, the percentage of 
                shipments of those products that are inspected is 
                decreasing; and
                    (C) the percentage of shipments inspected that are 
                in violation of wildlife protection laws is increasing.
            (4) Although the law enforcement program of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service should not be any more 
        important than other Service programs, law enforcement is 
        fundamentally different than the other programs and would be 
        better integrated into the overall mission of the Service if it 
        operated at the directorate level.
            (5) A directorate level status for the United States Fish 
        and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Division is necessary in 
        order to improve communication, coordination, consistency, 
        control, and oversight of law enforcement activities of the 
        United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNCTIONS OF UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE 
              SERVICE.

    The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 15. DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Division of Law Enforcement is hereby 
established in the office of the Director of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service.
    ``(b) Assistant Director for Law Enforcement.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Assistant Director for Law 
        Enforcement shall be the head of the Division of Law 
        Enforcement, and shall be appointed by the President from among 
        individuals who have wildlife law enforcement experience.
            ``(2) Career reserved position.--The Assistant Director for 
        Law Enforcement shall be a career reserved position within the 
        meaning of that term under section 3132(a) of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            ``(3) Location.--The office of the Assistant Director for 
        Law Enforcement shall be located in the District of Columbia.
    ``(c) Functions.--The Assistant Director for Law Enforcement shall 
administer the law enforcement functions of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service.''.

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