[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6388 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6388

To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts 
under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve 
    Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 2012

 Mr. Whitfield (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Moran, and Ms. Schakowsky) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts 
under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve 
    Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, 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. INCREASED ENFORCEMENT UNDER HORSE PROTECTION ACT.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 
1821) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as 
        paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
            (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so redesignated) 
        the following new paragraph:
            ``(1) The term `action device' means any boot, collar, 
        chain, roller, or other device that encircles or is placed upon 
        the lower extremity of the leg of a horse in such a manner that 
        it can--
                    ``(A) rotate around the leg or slide up and down 
                the leg, so as to cause friction; or
                    ``(B) strike the hoof, coronet band, fetlock joint, 
                or pastern of the horse.'';
            (3) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated) by inserting ``, 
        including the sponsoring organization and event manager'' 
        before the period; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(6)(A) The term `participate' means engaging in any 
        activity with respect to a horse show, horse exhibition, or 
        horse sale or auction, including--
                            ``(i) transporting or arranging for the 
                        transportation of a horse to or from a horse 
                        show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 
                        auction;
                            ``(ii) personally giving instructions to an 
                        exhibitor;
                            ``(iii) being knowingly present in a warm-
                        up area, inspection area, or other area at a 
                        horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 
                        auction that spectators are not permitted to 
                        enter; or
                            ``(iv) financing the participation of other 
                        individuals in any horse show, horse 
                        exhibition, or horse sale or auction.
            ``(B) Such term does not include spectating.''.
    (b) Findings.--Section 3 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 
1822) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by inserting ``and soring horses for such 
                purposes'' after ``horses in intrastate commerce,''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting ``in many ways, including by 
                creating unfair competition, by deceiving the 
                spectating public and horse buyers, and by negatively 
                impacting horse sales'' before the semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(6) the Inspector General of the Department of 
        Agriculture has determined that the program through which the 
        Secretary inspects horses is inadequate for preventing the 
        soring of show horses; and
            ``(7) despite regulations in effect related to inspection 
        for purposes of ensuring that horses are not sore, violations 
        of this Act continue to be prevalent.''.
    (c) Horse Shows and Exhibitions.--Section 4 of the Horse Protection 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1823) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``appointed'' and inserting 
                ``licensed''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                sentences: ``On the first instance in which the 
                Secretary determines that a horse is sore, the 
                Secretary shall disqualify the horse from being shown 
                or exhibited for a period of not less than 180 days. On 
                the second instance in which the Secretary determines 
                that such horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify 
                the horse for a period of not less than one year. On 
                the third instance in which the Secretary determines 
                that such horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify 
                the horse for a period of not less than three years.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``appointed'' and 
        inserting ``licensed'';
            (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following 
        new subsection:
    ``(c) Licensure, Training, and Assignment of Inspectors; Manner of 
Inspection.--(1)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this subsection, the Secretary shall prescribe by regulation 
requirements for the Department of Agriculture to license, train, 
assign, and oversee persons qualified to detect and diagnose a horse 
which is sore or to otherwise inspect horses at horse shows, horse 
exhibitions, or horse sales or auctions, to be hired by management of 
such events, for the purposes of enforcing this Act.
    ``(B) If the Secretary determines that the performance of a person 
licensed in accordance with subparagraph (A) is unsatisfactory, the 
Secretary may, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, revoke 
the license issued to such person.
    ``(C) Licensure of a person in accordance with the requirements 
prescribed under this subsection shall not be construed as authorizing 
such person to conduct inspections in a manner other than that 
prescribed for inspections by the Secretary (or the Secretary's 
representative) under subsection (e) of this section.
    ``(2)(A) Not later than 30 days before the date on which a horse 
show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction begins, the management 
of such show, exhibition, or sale or auction may notify the Secretary 
of the intent of the management to hire a person or persons licensed 
under this subsection and selected by the Secretary to conduct 
inspections at such show, exhibition, or sale or auction.
    ``(B) After such notification, the Secretary shall assign a person 
or persons licensed under this subsection to conduct inspections at the 
horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction.
    ``(3) A person licensed by the Secretary to conduct inspections 
under this subsection shall issue a citation with respect to any 
violation of this Act recorded during an inspection and notify the 
Secretary of each such violation not later than five days after the 
date on which a citation was issued with respect to such violation.''; 
and
            (4) in the heading for subsection (e), by striking 
        ``Appointed'' and inserting ``Designated''.
    (d) Unlawful Acts.--Section 5 of the Horse Protection Act (15 
U.S.C. 1824) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``or (C) respecting'' and inserting 
                ``(C), or (D) respecting''; and
                    (B) by striking ``and (D)'' and inserting ``(D) 
                causing a horse to become sore or directing another 
                person to cause a horse to become sore for the purpose 
                of showing, exhibiting, selling, auctioning, or 
                offering for sale the horse in any horse show, horse 
                exhibition, or horse sale or auction, and (E)'';
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``appoint'' and inserting 
        ``hire'';
            (3) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) by striking ``appoint'' and inserting ``hire''; 
                and
                    (B) by striking ``qualified'';
            (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ``appointed'' and insert 
        ``hired'';
            (5) in paragraph (6)--
                    (A) by striking ``appointed'' and inserting 
                ``hired''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``that the horse is sore'' after 
                ``the Secretary''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(12) The use of an action device on any limb of a 
        Tennessee Walking, a Racking, or a Spotted Saddle horse at a 
        horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction.
            ``(13) The use of a weighted shoe, pad, wedge, hoof band, 
        or other device or material at a horse show, horse exhibition, 
        or horse sale or auction that--
                    ``(A) is placed on, inserted in, or attached to any 
                limb of a Tennessee Walking, a Racking, or a Spotted 
                Saddle horse;
                    ``(B) is constructed to artificially alter the gait 
                of such a horse; and
                    ``(C) is not strictly protective or therapeutic in 
                nature.''.
    (e) Violations and Penalties.--Section 6 of the Horse Protection 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1825) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``Except as provided in 
                        paragraph (2) of this subsection, any person 
                        who knowingly violates section 5'' and 
                        inserting ``Any person who knowingly violates 
                        section 5 or the regulations issued under such 
                        section, including any violation recorded 
                        during an inspection conducted in accordance 
                        with section 4(c) or 4(e)''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``more than $3,000, or 
                        imprisoned for not more than one year, or 
                        both.'' and inserting ``more than $5,000, or 
                        imprisoned for not more than three years, or 
                        both, for each such violation.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraph (A);
                            (ii) by striking ``(2)''; and
                            (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 
                        and (C) as paragraphs (2) and (3), 
                        respectively, and moving the margins of such 
                        paragraphs (as so redesignated) two ems to the 
                        left; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(4) Any person who knowingly fails to obey an order of 
        disqualification shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not 
        more than $5,000 for each failure to obey such an order, 
        imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``section 5 of this Act'' 
                        and inserting ``section 5 or the regulations 
                        issued under such section''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``$2,000'' and inserting 
                        ``$4,000''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(5) Any person who fails to pay a licensed inspector 
        hired under section 4(c) shall, upon conviction thereof, be 
        fined not more than $4,000 for each such violation.''; and
            (3) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the first sentence--
                            (i) by inserting ``, or otherwise 
                        participating in any horse show, horse 
                        exhibition, or horse sale or auction'' before 
                        ``for a period of not less than one year''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``any subsequent'' and 
                        inserting ``the second'';
                    (B) by inserting before ``Any person who knowingly 
                fails'' the following: ``For the third or any 
                subsequent violation, a person may be permanently 
                disqualified by order of the Secretary, after notice 
                and an opportunity for a hearing before the Secretary, 
                from showing or exhibiting any horse, judging or 
                managing any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse 
                sale or auction, or otherwise participating in any 
                horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 
                auction.''; and
                    (C) by striking ``$3,000'' each place it appears 
                and inserting ``$5,000''.
    (f) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry 
out the amendments made by this Act.
    (g) Severability.--If any provision of this Act or any amendment 
made by this Act, or the application of a provision to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the 
provisions to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding.
                                 <all>