[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1712 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 1712

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                     November 15, 2010.
    Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution, the House shall be 
considered to have taken from the Speaker's table the bill H.R. 5566 and 
amendment of the Senate thereto, and to have concurred in the amendment of the 
Senate to the text with an amendment as follows:
    In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the Senate, insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States has a long history of prohibiting the 
        interstate sale, marketing, advertising, exchange, and distribution of 
        obscene material and speech that is integral to criminal conduct.
            (2) The Federal Government and the States have a compelling interest 
        in preventing intentional acts of extreme animal cruelty.
            (3) Each of the several States and the District of Columbia 
        criminalize intentional acts of extreme animal cruelty, such as the 
        intentional crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, or impaling of 
        animals for no socially redeeming purpose.
            (4) There are certain extreme acts of animal cruelty that appeal to 
        a specific sexual fetish. These acts of extreme animal cruelty are 
        videotaped, and the resulting video tapes are commonly referred to as 
        ``animal crush videos''.
            (5) The Supreme Court of the United States has long held that 
        obscenity is an exception to speech protected under the First Amendment 
        to the Constitution of the United States.
            (6) In the judgment of Congress, many animal crush videos are 
        obscene in the sense that the depictions, taken as a whole--
                    (A) appeal to the prurient interest in sex;
                    (B) are patently offensive; and
                    (C) lack serious literary, artistic, political, or 
                scientific value.
            (7) Serious criminal acts of extreme animal cruelty are integral to 
        the creation, sale, distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange 
        of animal crush videos.
            (8) The creation, sale, distribution, advertising, marketing, and 
        exchange of animal crush videos is intrinsically related and integral to 
        creating an incentive for, directly causing, and perpetuating demand for 
        the serious acts of extreme animal cruelty the videos depict. The 
        primary reason for those criminal acts is the creation, sale, 
        distribution, advertising, marketing, and exchange of the animal crush 
        video image.
            (9) The serious acts of extreme animal cruelty necessary to make 
        animal crush videos are committed in a clandestine manner that--
                    (A) allows the perpetrators of such crimes to remain 
                anonymous;
                    (B) makes it extraordinarily difficult to establish the 
                jurisdiction within which the underlying criminal acts of 
                extreme animal cruelty occurred; and
                    (C) often precludes proof that the criminal acts occurred 
                within the statute of limitations.
            (10) Each of the difficulties described in paragraph (9) seriously 
        frustrates and impedes the ability of State authorities to enforce the 
        criminal statutes prohibiting such behavior.

SEC. 3. ANIMAL CRUSH VIDEOS.

    (a) In General.--Section 48 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
``Sec. 48. Animal crush videos
    ``(a) Definition.--In this section the term `animal crush video' means any 
photograph, motion-picture film, video or digital recording, or electronic image 
that--
            ``(1) depicts actual conduct in which 1 or more living non-human 
        mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians is intentionally crushed, 
        burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious 
        bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 and including conduct that, if 
        committed against a person and in the special maritime and territorial 
        jurisdiction of the United States, would violate section 2241 or 2242); 
        and
            ``(2) is obscene.
    ``(b) Prohibitions.--
            ``(1) Creation of animal crush videos.--It shall be unlawful for any 
        person to knowingly create an animal crush video, if--
                    ``(A) the person intends or has reason to know that the 
                animal crush video will be distributed in, or using a means or 
                facility of, interstate or foreign commerce; or
                    ``(B) the animal crush video is distributed in, or using a 
                means or facility of, interstate or foreign commerce.
            ``(2) Distribution of animal crush videos.--It shall be unlawful for 
        any person to knowingly sell, market, advertise, exchange, or distribute 
        an animal crush video in, or using a means or facility of, interstate or 
        foreign commerce.
    ``(c) Extraterritorial Application.--Subsection (b) shall apply to the 
knowing sale, marketing, advertising, exchange, distribution, or creation of an 
animal crush video outside of the United States, if--
            ``(1) the person engaging in such conduct intends or has reason to 
        know that the animal crush video will be transported into the United 
        States or its territories or possessions; or
            ``(2) the animal crush video is transported into the United States 
        or its territories or possessions.
    ``(d) Penalty.--Any person who violates subsection (b) shall be fined under 
this title, imprisoned for not more than 7 years, or both.
    ``(e) Exceptions.--
            ``(1) In general.--This section shall not apply with regard to any 
        visual depiction of--
                    ``(A) customary and normal veterinary or agricultural 
                husbandry practices;
                    ``(B) the slaughter of animals for food; or
                    ``(C) hunting, trapping, or fishing.
            ``(2) Good-faith distribution.--This section shall not apply to the 
        good-faith distribution of an animal crush video to--
                    ``(A) a law enforcement agency; or
                    ``(B) a third party for the sole purpose of analysis to 
                determine if referral to a law enforcement agency is 
                appropriate.
    ``(f) No Preemption.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to preempt 
the law of any State or local subdivision thereof to protect animals.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The item relating to section 48 in the table of 
sections for chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:

``48. Animal crush videos.''.
    (c) Severability.--If any provision of section 48 of title 18, United States 
Code (as amended by this section), or the application of the provision to any 
person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the provision and the 
application of the provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be 
affected thereby.

SEC. 4. PAYGO COMPLIANCE.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for purposes of complying with the 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the 
latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
jointly submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairmen of 
the House and Senate Budget Committees, provided that such statement has been 
submitted prior to the vote on passage in the House acting first on this 
conference report or amendments between the Houses.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.