[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5041 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5041

 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to expand and improve the enforcement 
     capabilities of the Attorney General, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

    Mr. Reschenthaler (for himself and Mr. Quigley) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to expand and improve the enforcement 
     capabilities of the Attorney General, 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 ``Better Collaboration, 
Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement for Animals Act of 2023'' or 
the ``Better CARE for Animals Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING ANIMAL WELFARE ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 2 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
2132) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``of the United States 
        or his representative who shall be an employee of the United 
        States'' and inserting ``or a representative of the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, who shall be an employee of the'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), by adding ``or'' at the end after 
        the semicolon; and
            (3) in each of subsections (a) through (o)--
                    (A) by inserting a subsection heading, the text of 
                which comprises the term defined in the subsection;
                    (B) by reordering the subsections so as to appear 
                in alphabetical order based on the subsection headings 
                (as so added); and
                    (C) by redesignating the subsections (as so 
                reordered) appropriately.
    (b) Sale or Transportation Without License.--Section 4 of the 
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2134) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 4. SALE OR TRANSPORTATION WITHOUT LICENSE.

    ``No dealer or exhibitor shall do any of the following in commerce: 
exhibit, purchase, offer to purchase, sell, offer to sell, transport, 
or offer for transportation any animal, unless the dealer or exhibitor 
has a valid license from the Secretary that has not been suspended.''.
    (c) Investigations and Inspections.--Section 16(c) of the Animal 
Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2146(c)) is amended in the fourth sentence by 
striking ``enforce, and to prevent and restrain violations of this 
Act,'' and inserting ``enforce, prevent, and restrain violations of 
this Act, or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated pursuant to 
this Act,''.
    (d) Civil Penalty.--Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
2149) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d), in the first sentence, by inserting 
        ``, or any rule, standard, or regulation promulgated 
        thereunder,'' before ``shall''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Rewards and Certain Incidental Expenses.--With respect to the 
sums received by the Secretary or the Attorney General as penalties or 
fines for any violation of this Act or any rule, standard, or 
regulation promulgated thereunder, the Secretary or the Attorney 
General, as applicable, shall use those sums to pay the reasonable and 
necessary costs incurred by any person in providing temporary care for 
any animal pending the disposition of any civil or criminal proceeding 
alleging a violation of this Act with respect to that animal.''.
    (e) Enforcement by Attorney General.--The Animal Welfare Act is 
amended by inserting after section 19 (7 U.S.C. 2149) the following:

``SEC. 20. ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    ``(a) In General.--The Attorney General may bring a civil action in 
the appropriate district court of the United States for appropriate 
relief, including a temporary restraining order, preliminary or 
permanent injunction (including for removal or relocation of animals), 
license revocation, and civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each 
violation for each day during which the violation continues, against 
any person who violates any provision of this Act or any rule, 
standard, or regulation promulgated thereunder.
    ``(b) Seizure and Forfeiture of Animals.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any animal that is subjected to conduct 
        that constitutes a violation of this Act, or any rule, 
        standard, or regulation promulgated thereunder, shall be 
        subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States in 
        accordance with chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code.
            ``(2) Costs.--Any person whose act or omission is the basis 
        for a seizure authorized by subparagraph (1) may be charged a 
        reasonable fee for expenses to the United States relating to 
        the transfer and care of the seized animal.
    ``(c) Warrants.--The judges of the district courts of the United 
States and United States magistrate judges may, within their respective 
jurisdictions, on proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause, 
issue such warrants or other processes as may be required for 
enforcement of this Act and any rule, standard, or regulation 
promulgated thereunder.
    ``(d) Savings Clause.--
            ``(1) Attorney general.--No action taken by the Attorney 
        General pursuant to this section shall affect or limit the 
        authority of the Secretary to enforce any provision of this Act 
        or any rule, standard, or regulation thereunder.
            ``(2) Secretary.--No action taken by the Secretary shall 
        affect or limit the authority of the Attorney General under 
        this Act.''.
    (f) Authority to Apply for Injunctions.--Section 29(b) of the 
Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2159(b)) is amended by striking the second 
sentence.
    (g) Severability.--The Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 30. SEVERABILITY.

    ``If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof, is held 
invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Act and the application 
of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be 
affected.''.
    (h) Memorandum of Understanding.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall enter 
into a memorandum of understanding with the Attorney General to carry 
out the authorities granted by the amendments made by this section, 
including an agreement to provide the Attorney General with timely 
information about violators who have multiple citations that seriously 
or adversely affect the health or well-being of an animal.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) section 16(c) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 
        2146(c)) establishes the jurisdiction of Federal courts to 
        address violations of, and cases arising from violations of, 
        that Act and provides the Attorney General with the authority 
        to bring such cases in Federal court; and
            (2) the enforcement jurisdiction of the Federal courts, and 
        the corresponding enforcement authority of the Attorney 
        General, include violations of the rules, standards, and 
        regulations promulgated under that Act.
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