[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3709 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3709

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 
 to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of 
dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2023

  Mr. Lieu (for himself, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Moskowitz) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture 
 to enter into cooperative agreements to support the microchipping of 
dogs and cats in the care of animal shelters or similar establishments, 
                        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 ``Keeping Pets and Families Together 
Act''.

SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT MICROCHIPPING OF DOGS AND 
              CATS.

    The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) is amended by 
inserting after section 28 (7 U.S.C. 2158) the following:

``SEC. 28A. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS TO SUPPORT MICROCHIPPING OF DOGS AND 
              CATS.

    ``(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, 
the Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary will 
enter into cooperative agreements with State and local governments for 
purposes of supporting the capability of entities described in 
subsection (b) to provide for microchipping of dogs and cats in their 
care before allowing such dogs or cats to be recovered by their 
original owner, adopted by other individuals, or transferred to another 
animal shelter or rescue organization.
    ``(b) Entities Described.--An entity described in this subsection 
is--
            ``(1) each pound or shelter owned and operated by a State 
        or a unit of local government; and
            ``(2) each private entity established for the purpose of 
        caring for animals, such as a humane society, or other 
        organization that is under contract with a State or a unit of 
        local government that operates as a pound or shelter and that 
        releases animals on a voluntary basis.
    ``(c) Unit of Local Government Defined.--In this section, the term 
`unit of local government' means a county, municipality, town, 
township, village, or other unit of general government below the State 
level;
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF MICROCHIPPING PROGRAM.

    Not later than December 31, 2028, the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate a report that--
            (1) assesses the effectiveness of the program established 
        under section 28A of the Animal Welfare Act, as added by 
        section 2;
            (2) contains the Secretary's recommendation on whether to 
        extend such program for an additional 5-fiscal-year period; and
            (3) the amount of funding necessary to effectively extend 
        such program over such period.
                                 <all>