[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 137 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                  Union Calendar No. 10
110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 137

                      [Report No. 110-27, Part I]

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen prohibitions 
            against animal fighting, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2007

    Mr. Gallegly (for himself, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. Bartlett of 
  Maryland) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

                             March 1, 2007

Additional sponsors: Mr. Campbell of California, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Deal 
of Georgia, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. 
  Bilbray, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Linder, Mr. 
Markey, Mr. Berman, Mr. Upton, Mr. Issa, Mr. Saxton, Mr. Gary G. Miller 
  of California, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
 Royce, Mr. Fossella, Mr. Shays, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Wolf, Ms. Harman, Mr. 
Costello, Mr. Weller of Illinois, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. 
 Walsh of New York, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Farr, Mr. 
   Murtha, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Hooley, Mr. 
Burton of Indiana, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Doyle, Ms. Norton, 
Mr. McNulty, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Boswell, Mr. McCotter, Mr. 
   Nadler, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Weiner, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. 
   Schiff, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Knollenberg, Mrs. Lowey, Ms. McCollum of 
 Minnesota, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Clyburn, Mrs. 
Tauscher, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Ms. Lee, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Schwartz, 
  Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. DeFazio, Mrs. Biggert, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. 
Delahunt, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Wilson of South 
 Carolina, Ms. Berkley, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Engel, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
California, Mr. Becerra, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Mr. Baird, Mr. 
   Boozman, Mr. Wexler, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Clay, Mr. George Miller of 
 California, Mr. Souder, Mr. Castle, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Everett, Mr. Hall 
of Texas, Mr. Herger, Mr. Keller of Florida, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. McHugh, 
    Mrs. Miller of Michigan, Mr. Regula, Mr. Walden of Oregon, Mr. 
  Frelinghuysen, Mr. Inslee, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. 
    Holden, Mr. Honda, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. 
 Ruppersberger, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Whitfield, 
Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Holt, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Filner, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Waxman, 
 Mr. Ramstad, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Frank 
  of Massachusetts, Mr. Baca, Ms. Bean, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. 
 Kind, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Wu, 
   Mr. Oberstar, Ms. Eshoo, Mrs. Emerson, Mrs. Bono, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. 
    Gillmor, Mr. Gingrey, Mr. Hobson, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Lewis of 
   Kentucky, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mrs. Musgrave, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. 
Rothman, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Akin, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Hoekstra, 
Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Mica, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. 
 Tancredo, Mr. Tiahrt, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Jackson of 
Illinois, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. English 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Renzi, Mr. Latham, 
   Mr. Pence, Mr. McDermott, Ms. Herseth, Mr. Costa, Mr. Meehan, Mr. 
Etheridge, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Ms. Millender-McDonald, 
  Mr. Olver, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. 
 Miller of Florida, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. LaHood, Mrs. Capito, 
Mr. Towns, Mr. Wynn, Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Platts, Mr. Smith of 
 Washington, Mr. Hulshof, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Rush, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. 
Bishop of Utah, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. Ginny 
 Brown-Waite of Florida, Mr. Gerlach, Mr. Petri, Mr. Camp of Michigan, 
    Mr. Israel, Mr. Porter, Ms. Waters, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. 
Carnahan, Ms. Carson, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Mr. Scott of Georgia, 
     Mr. Kuhl of New York, Mr. Shuster, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Moore of 
   Wisconsin, Mr. Levin, Mr. Tiberi, Mrs. Schmidt, Mr. McHenry, Mr. 
  Bilirakis, Mr. Miller of North Carolina, Mr. Davis of Kentucky, Mr. 
  Neal of Massachusetts, Mr. Buyer, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, Mr. 
Moore of Kansas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. 
Tierney, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Payne, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. 
Cohen, Mr. Emanuel, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Daniel E. 
   Lungren of California, Mr. Terry, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Lynch, Mr. 
Gutierrez, Mr. Carney, Mr. Stark, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. McIntyre, 
 Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Sires, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. 
Kline of Minnesota, Ms. Solis, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Dent, Mr. Allen, Mr. 
 Hare, Mr. Salazar, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Michaud, Mr. Roskam, Mr. Dreier, 
  Mr. Capuano, Ms. Watson, Mr. Doggett, Mrs. Drake, Mr. Yarmuth, Ms. 
 Shea-Porter, Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Andrews, 
 Mr. Coble, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Courtney, Mr. 
 Bachus, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Davis of Alabama, Mr. Walberg, 
Mr. Walz of Minnesota, Mr. Faleomavaega, Ms. Sutton, Mr. Langevin, Mr. 
 Heller of Nevada, Mr. Hastings of Washington, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
 Mr. Altmire, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Garrett 
  of New Jersey, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Spratt, Mr. Scott of 
Virginia, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Hall of New York, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Wilson 
 of Ohio, Mr. Space, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Kagen, Ms. DeGette, Ms. 
  Giffords, Mr. Sestak, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Castor, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Al 
   Green of Texas, Mr. Arcuri, and Mr. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania

                             March 1, 2007

     Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
                     [Omit the part struck through]

                             March 1, 2007

 Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee on the 
    Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen prohibitions 
            against animal fighting, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Animal Fighting Prohibition 
Enforcement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF ANIMAL FIGHTING PROHIBITIONS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 49. Animal fighting prohibition
    ``(a) Sponsoring or Exhibiting an Animal in an Animal Fighting 
Venture.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), it 
        shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sponsor or 
        exhibit an animal in an animal fighting venture, if any animal 
        in the venture was moved in interstate or foreign commerce.
            ``(2) Special rule for certain states.--With respect to 
        fighting ventures involving live birds in a State where it 
        would not be in violation of the law, it shall be unlawful 
        under this subsection for a person to sponsor or exhibit a bird 
        in the fighting venture only if the person knew that any bird 
        in the fighting venture was knowingly bought, sold, delivered, 
        transported, or received in interstate or foreign commerce for 
        the purpose of participation in the fighting venture.
    ``(b) Buying, Selling, Delivering, or Transporting Animals for 
Participation in Animal Fighting Venture.--It shall be unlawful for any 
person to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver, or receive for 
purposes of transportation, in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog 
or other animal for purposes of having the dog or other animal 
participate in an animal fighting venture.
    ``(c) Use of Postal Service or Other Interstate Instrumentality for 
Promoting Animal Fighting Venture.--It shall be unlawful for any person 
to knowingly use the mail service of the United States Postal Service 
or any instrumentality of interstate commerce for commercial speech 
promoting an animal fighting venture except as performed outside the 
limits of the States of the United States.
    ``(d) Violation of State Law.--Notwithstanding subsection (c), the 
activities prohibited by such subsection shall be unlawful with respect 
to fighting ventures involving live birds only if the fight is to take 
place in a State where it would be in violation of the laws thereof.
    ``(e) Sharp Instruments.--It shall be unlawful for any person to 
knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver in interstate or foreign 
commerce a knife, a gaff, or any other sharp instrument attached, or 
designed or intended to be attached, to the leg of a bird for use in an 
animal fighting venture.
    ``(f) Penalties.--Any person who violates subsection (a), (b), (c), 
or (e) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 
3 years, or both, for each such violation.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `animal fighting venture' means any event 
        which involves a fight between at least two animals and is 
        conducted for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment 
        except that the term `animal fighting venture' shall not be 
        deemed to include any activity the primary purpose of which 
        involves the use of one or more animals in hunting another 
        animal <DELETED>or animals, such as waterfowl, bird, raccoon, 
        or fox hunting</DELETED>;
            ``(2) the term `instrumentality of interstate commerce' 
        means any written, wire, radio, television or other form of 
        communication in, or using a facility of, interstate commerce;
            ``(3) the term `State' means any State of the United 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States; and
            ``(4) the term `animal' means any live bird, or any live 
        dog or other mammal, except man.
    ``(h) Conflict With State Law.--The provisions of this section do 
not supersede or otherwise invalidate any such State, local, or 
municipal legislation or ordinance relating to animal fighting ventures 
except in case of a direct and irreconcilable conflict between any 
requirements thereunder and this section or any rule, regulation, or 
standard hereunder.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 3 of 
title 18, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 48 
the following:

``49. Animal fighting prohibition.''.
    (c) Repeal of Criminal Penalty in the Animal Welfare Act.--Section 
26 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2156) is amended by striking 
subsection (e).
                                                  Union Calendar No. 10

110th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 137

                      [Report No. 110-27, Part I]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen prohibitions 
            against animal fighting, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             March 1, 2007

 Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee on the 
    Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed