[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1887 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.1887

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
   the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine


                                 An Act


 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to punish the depiction of animal 
                                cruelty.

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

SECTION 1. PUNISHMENT FOR DEPICTION OF ANIMAL CRUELTY.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 48. Depiction of animal cruelty

    ``(a) Creation, Sale, or Possession.--Whoever knowingly creates, 
sells, or possesses a depiction of animal cruelty with the intention of 
placing that depiction in interstate or foreign commerce for commercial 
gain, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 
years, or both.
    ``(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to any depiction 
that has serious religious, political, scientific, educational, 
journalistic, historical, or artistic value.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section--
        ``(1) the term `depiction of animal cruelty' means any visual 
    or auditory depiction, including any photograph, motion-picture 
    film, video recording, electronic image, or sound recording of 
    conduct in which a living animal is intentionally maimed, 
    mutilated, tortured, wounded, or killed, if such conduct is illegal 
    under Federal law or the law of the State in which the creation, 
    sale, or possession takes place, regardless of whether the maiming, 
    mutilation, torture, wounding, or killing took place in the State; 
    and
        ``(2) the term `State' means each of the several States, the 
    District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
    Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
    Mariana Islands, and any other commonwealth, territory, or 
    possession of the United States.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``48. Depiction of animal cruelty.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.