[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 37 (Thursday, March 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1580-S1581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Booker, Ms. 
        Cantwell, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Peters):
  S. 503. A bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make 
publicly available certain regulatory records relating to the 
administration of the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, 
to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the use of an 
alternative depreciation system for taxpayers violating rules under the 
Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Animal Welfare 
Accountability and Transparency Act. This bill is a necessary step to 
restoring public information on animal cruelty that was removed from 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, USDA, Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service, APHIS, website under the Trump administration.
  On February 3, 2017, APHIS removed information from its website 
related to oversight and enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, AWA, 
and Horse Protection Act, HPA, including animal inspection and 
licensing reports for more than 9,000 licensed facilities that use 
animals--facilities like commercial dog breeding operators, animal 
research labs, roadside zoos, and horse show participants. Since 2009, 
APHIS has made this information public to increase transparency and 
hold violators of these animal cruelty laws accountable. This 
information is now hidden from the public and is only available through 
a Freedom of Information Act Request, which can take months and 
sometimes even years for an agency to respond.
  The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act restores 
transparency by requiring APHIS to once again make AWA and HPA 
inspection reports accessible to the public. In my view, transparency 
is key when it comes to giving animal lovers and consumers information 
about whether their pets or the products they buy are the result of 
heartbreaking beginnings. These inspection reports also help law 
enforcement officials track and understand trends in animal welfare 
violations.
  Preventing animal cruelty starts with getting facts out to consumers. 
By shedding light on AWA and HPA violations, the Animal Welfare 
Accountability and Transparency Act holds accountable puppy mill 
operators and other businesses that use animals for breeding, research, 
and testing.
  To ensure that taxpayers are not paying for entities that violate 
animal welfare laws, the Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency 
Act also prohibits businesses that are found to be in violation of the 
AWA or HPA from collecting certain tax benefits.
  Under current tax and accounting rules, companies can write off the 
value of breeding and working animals on their taxes using accelerated 
depreciation, as if those animals are machinery. They keep that 
preferential and valuable tax benefit, even if they violate animal 
cruelty laws. The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act 
puts an end to this practice and holds companies accountable for 
breaking the law by prohibiting businesses found to have violated AWA 
or HPA from claiming accelerated depreciation for tax purposes for five 
years.
  The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act is a much 
needed step to restore transparency in animal cruelty and to hold 
companies accountable for violating the law.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 503

       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 Welfare 
     Accountability and Transparency Act''.

     SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REGULATORY RECORDS.

       Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 
     90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Secretary'') shall maintain and promptly make available to 
     the public in an online searchable database in a machine-
     readable format on the website of the Department of 
     Agriculture information relating to the administration of the 
     Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) and the Horse 
     Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821 et seq.), including--
       (1) the entirety of each report of any inspection 
     conducted, and record of any enforcement action taken, 
     under--
       (A) either of those Acts; or
       (B) any regulation issued under those Acts;

[[Page S1581]]

       (2) with respect to the Animal Welfare Act--
       (A) the entirety of each annual report submitted by a 
     research facility under section 13 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 
     2143); and
       (B) the name, address, and license or registration number 
     of each research facility, exhibitor, dealer, and other 
     person or establishment--
       (i) licensed by the Secretary under section 3 or 12 of that 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 2133, 2142); or
       (ii) registered with the Secretary under section 6 of that 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 2136); and
       (3) with respect to the Horse Protection Act, the name and 
     address of--
       (A) any person that is licensed to conduct any inspection 
     under section 4(c) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 1823(c)); or
       (B) any organization or association that is licensed by the 
     Department of Agriculture to promote horses through--
       (i) the showing, exhibiting, sale, auction, or registry of 
     horses; or
       (ii) the conduct of any activity that contributes to the 
     advancement of horses.

     SEC. 3. USE OF ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION SYSTEM FOR TAXPAYERS 
                   VIOLATING CERTAIN ANIMAL PROTECTION RULES.

       (a) In General.--Section 168(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of 
     subparagraph (D), by inserting ``and'' at the end of 
     subparagraph (E), and by inserting after subparagraph (E) the 
     following new subparagraph:
       ``(F) any property placed in service by a disqualified 
     taxpayer during an applicable period,''.
       (b) Definitions.--Section 168(g) of the Internal Revenue 
     Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(8) Disqualified taxpayer; applicable period.--For 
     purposes of paragraph (1)(F)--
       ``(A) Disqualified taxpayer.--
       ``(i) In general.--The term `disqualified taxpayer' means 
     any taxpayer if such taxpayer--

       ``(I) has been assessed a civil penalty under section 19(b) 
     of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(b)) or section 6(b) 
     of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(b)) and either 
     the period for seeking judicial review of the final agency 
     action has lapsed or there has been a final judgment with 
     respect to an appeal of such assessment, or
       ``(II) has been convicted under section 19(d) of the Animal 
     Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(d)) or section 6(a) of the Horse 
     Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(a)) and there is a final 
     judgment with respect to such conviction.

       ``(ii) Aggregation rules.--All persons treated as a single 
     employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or 
     subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as one 
     taxpayer for purposes of this subparagraph.
       ``(B) Applicable period.--The term `applicable period' 
     means, with respect to any violation described in 
     subparagraph (A), the 5-taxable year period beginning with 
     the taxable year in which the period for seeking judicial 
     review of a civil penalty described in subparagraph (A)(i) 
     has lapsed or in which there has been a final judgment 
     entered with respect to the violation, whichever is 
     earlier.''.
       (c) Conforming Amendment.--The last sentence of section 
     179(d)(1) is amended by inserting ``or any property placed in 
     service by a disqualified taxpayer (as defined in section 
     168(g)(8)(A)) during an applicable period (as defined in 
     section 168(g)(8)(B))'' after ``section 50(b)''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to property placed in service in taxable years 
     beginning after the date of the enactment of this section.
                                 ______