[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2522 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2522

   To amend the Federal Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act to 
   authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the commercial 
    transportation of horses for slaughter, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 6 (legislative day, September 12), 1994

 Mr. McConnell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Federal Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act to 
   authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to regulate the commercial 
    transportation of horses for slaughter, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be 
cited as the ``Humane and Safe Commercial Transportation of Horses for 
Slaughter Act of 1994''.
    Sec. 2. The Act of August 27, 1958, as amended (7 U.S.C. 1901-1906) 
is amended by inserting as a second title the following:

     ``TITLE II--COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION OF HORSES FOR SLAUGHTER

    ``Sec. 201. In order to ensure that horses sold for slaughter are 
provided humane treatment and care it is essential to regulate the 
transportation, care, handling, and treatment of horses by any person 
engaged in the commercial transportation of horses for slaughter.
    ``Sec. 202. When used in this title--
            ``(a) the term `person' means an individual, partnership, 
        firm, company, corporation, or association;
            ``(b) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture of the United States or his representative who 
        shall be an employee of the United States Department of 
        Agriculture;
            ``(c) the term `commercial transportation' means trade, 
        traffic, commerce and transportation among the several States, 
        or between any State, territory, possession, or the District of 
        Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any place 
        outside thereof; or between points within the same State, 
        territories, or possession, or the District of Columbia, or the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, but through any place outside 
        thereof; or within any territory, possession, or the District 
        of Columbia;
            ``(d) the terms `horse', `horses', and `equine' include all 
        members of the family Equidae; and
            ``(e) the term `vehicle' means any machine, truck, tractor, 
        trailer, or semitrailer, or any combination thereof, propelled 
        or drawn by mechanical power and used upon the highways in the 
        commercial transportation of horses for slaughter.
    ``Sec. 203. (a) The Secretary shall promulgate by rule, within six 
months after the date of enactment of this title, standards to govern 
the humane commercial transportation of horses for slaughter. Such 
standards shall include minimum requirements with respect to the humane 
handling care, treatment, and equipment necessary to ensure the safe 
and humane transportation of horses for slaughter.
    ``(b) The standards to be promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) 
herein shall require, at a minimum, that:
            ``(1) No horse shall be transported for more than 24 hours 
        without being unloaded from the vehicle and allowed to rest for 
        at least 8 consecutive hours and given access to adequate 
        quantities of food and potable water.
            ``(2) Vehicles shall provide headroom of at least six feet, 
        six inches from roof or beams or other structural members 
        overhead to floor underfoot.
            ``(3) Vehicle interiors shall be free of protrusions and 
        sharp edges or objects, all ramps and floors shall be covered 
        with a nonskid surface, and shall be maintained in a sanitary 
        condition.
            ``(4) Vehicles shall provide adequate ventilation and 
        shelter from extremes of weather and temperature for all 
        equines; shall be of appropriate size and interior design for 
        the number of equines being carried, to prevent overcrowding; 
        shall allow for the position of horses by sex and size; and 
        shall be equipped with doors and ramps of sufficient size and 
        location to provide for safe loading and unloading, including 
        unloading during emergencies.
            ``(5) All horses transported for slaughter must be fit to 
        travel. No horse shall be transported for slaughter if it is 
        found, on pre-shipment inspection, to be in imminent danger of 
        death; to be suffering from a broken or dislocated limb; to be 
        unable to bear weight on all four limbs; to be blind in both 
        eyes; or to be obviously suffering from severe illness, injury, 
        lameness or physical debilitation that would make the animal 
        unable to withstand the stresses of transportation.
    ``Sec. 204. (a) Any person engaging in the commercial 
transportation of a horse for slaughter shall establish and maintain 
such records, make such reports, and provide such information as the 
Secretary may by regulation reasonably require for the purposes of 
implementing or determining compliance with this chapter. Such records 
shall include, at a minimum, the names and addresses of current owners 
and consignors, if utilized, of the horses at the time of sale or 
consignment to slaughter, and the bill of sale or other documentation 
of sale for each horse. Such records must accompany the horse during 
transport to slaughter.
    ``(b) Such records shall be retained by any person engaging in the 
commercial transportation of a horse for slaughter for a reasonable 
period of time determined by the Secretary, and upon request of an 
officer or employee duly designated by the Secretary, shall be made 
available at all reasonable times for inspection and copying (on or off 
the premises) by the Secretary or his authorized representative.
    ``Sec. 205. When construing or enforcing the provisions of this 
title, the act, omission, or failure of any person acting for or 
employed by any person engaging in the commercial transportation of 
horses for slaughter, within the scope of his employment or office, 
shall be deemed the act, omission, or failure of the person engaging in 
the commercial transportation of horses for slaughter as well as of 
such person.
    ``Sec. 206. The Secretary is authorized to establish cooperative 
agreements and to enter into memorandums of agreement with appropriate 
Federal and State agencies or political subdivisions thereof, including 
but not limited to State departments of agriculture and State law 
enforcement agencies, as well as foreign governments, to carry out and 
enforce the provisions of this title.
    ``Sec. 207. (a) The Secretary shall make such investigations or 
inspections as they deem necessary for purposes of enforcement of this 
chapter, including any regulation issued thereunder.
    ``(b) For the purposes of making investigations or inspections 
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall at all reasonable 
times have access to the place of business of any person engaged in the 
commercial transportation of horses for slaughter; to the facilities 
and vehicles used to transport the horses; and to those records 
required to be kept pursuant to section 204. Such investigations and 
inspections shall include at a minimum an inspection by employees of 
the Secretary of all horses and vehicles carrying horses, upon their 
arrival at the slaughter facility. The Secretary shall also conduct 
such investigations as may be appropriate pursuant to information 
regarding alleged violations of this title provided to him by State 
officials.
    ``(c) The Secretary shall promulgate such rules and regulations as 
be deems necessary to permit employees of the Department of Agriculture 
to destroy in a human manner any horse found to be suffering as a 
result of a failure to comply with any provision of this title or any 
regulation issued thereunder.
    ``Sec. 208. Any person who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, 
impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in or 
on account of the performance of his official duties under this title 
shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three 
years or both. Whoever, in the commission of such acts, uses a deadly 
or dangerous weapon shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned 
not more than ten years, or both.
    ``Sec. 209. The United States district courts, the District Court 
of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, the highest court of 
Samoa, and the United States courts of the other territories, are 
vested with jurisdiction to specifically enforce, and to prevent and 
restrain violations of this title, and shall have jurisdiction in all 
other kinds of cases arising under this title, except as provided in 
section 209(b) of this title.
    ``Sec. 210. (a) Any person who violates any provision of this Act, 
or any rule, regulation or standard promulgated by the Secretary 
thereunder, shall be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of not 
more than $2,000 for each violation. Each violation and each day under 
which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. No 
penalty shall be assessed unless such person is given notice and 
opportunity for a hearing with respect to the alleged violation, and 
the order of the Secretary assessing a penalty shall be final and 
conclusive unless the affected person files an appeal from the 
Secretary's order with the appropriate United States court of appeals. 
Upon any failure to pay the penalty assessed by a final order under 
this section, the Secretary shall request the Attorney General to 
institute a civil action in a district court of the United States or 
other United States court for any district in which such person is 
found or resides or transacts business, to collect the penalty, and 
such court shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide any such action.
    ``(b) Any person aggrieved by a final order of the Secretary issued 
pursuant to this section may, within days after entry of such an order, 
seek review of such order in the appropriate United States Court of 
Appeals and such Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set 
aside, suspend (in whole or in part) or to determine the validity of 
the Secretary's order.
    ``(c) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this Act 
shall, on conviction thereof, be subject to imprisonment for not more 
than one year or a fine of not more than $2,000, or both. Upon 
conviction of a second or subsequent offense, a person shall be subject 
to imprisonment for not more than three years or to a fine of not more 
than $5,000, or both.
    ``Sec. 211. The Secretary is authorized to promulgate such rules, 
regulations, and orders as he may deem necessary in order to effectuate 
the purposes of this title.
    ``Sec. 212. If any provision of this title or the application of 
any such provision to any person or circumstances shall be held 
invalid, the remainder of this title and the application of any such 
provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it 
is held invalid shall not be affected thereby.
    ``Sec. 213. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
to carry out the provision of this title such sums as are necessary for 
the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1994.''.
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