[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 167 (Tuesday, October 22, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S6047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RESCUING ANIMALS WITH REWARDS ACT OF 2019

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 232, S. 1590.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1590) to amend the State Department Basic 
     Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize rewards for thwarting 
     wildlife trafficking linked to transnational organized crime, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. MORAN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a 
third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  Mr. MORAN. I know of no further debate on the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate, the bill having 
been read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (S. 1590) was passed as follows:

                                S. 1590

       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 ``Rescuing Animals With 
     Rewards Act of 2019'' or the ``RAWR Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) Wildlife trafficking is a major transnational crime 
     that is estimated to generate over $10,000,000,000 a year in 
     illegal profits and which is increasingly perpetrated by 
     organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises, including 
     known terrorist organizations.
       (2) Wildlife trafficking not only threatens endangered 
     species worldwide, but also jeopardizes local security, 
     spreads disease, undermines rule of law, fuels corruption, 
     and damages economic development.
       (3) Combating wildlife trafficking requires a coordinated 
     and sustained approach at the global, regional, national, and 
     local levels.
       (4) Congress stated in the Eliminate, Neutralize, and 
     Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-231) 
     that it is the policy of the United States to take immediate 
     actions to stop the illegal global trade in wildlife and 
     wildlife products and associated transnational organized 
     crime.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Department of State's rewards program is a powerful tool 
     in combating sophisticated international crime and that the 
     Department of State and Federal law enforcement should work 
     in concert to offer rewards that target wildlife traffickers.

     SEC. 3. WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING PREVENTION REWARDS PROGRAM.

       Subparagraph (B) of section 36(k)(5) of the State 
     Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
     2708(k)(5)) is amended by inserting ``wildlife trafficking 
     (as defined by section 2(12) of the Eliminate, Neutralize, 
     and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 
     7601(12); Public Law 114-231)) and'' after ``includes''.
  Mr. MORAN. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or 
debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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