II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1006

To end the use of conventional steel-jawed leghold traps on animals in

the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. KERRY, and

Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To end the use of conventional steel-jawed leghold traps

on animals in the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

4 It is the policy of the United States to end the need5 less maiming and suffering inflicted upon animals through

6 the use of leghold traps by prohibiting the import or ex7 port of, and the shipment in interstate commerce of, such

8 traps and of articles of fur from animals that were trapped

9 in such traps.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) ARTICLE OF FUR.—The term ‘‘article of

4 fur’’ means—

5 (A) any furskin, whether raw or tanned or

6 dressed; or

7 (B) any article, however produced, that

8 consists in whole or part of any furskin.

9 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the terms

10 ‘‘furskin’’, ‘‘raw’’, and ‘‘tanned or dressed’’ have the

11 same respective meanings as those terms have under

12 headnote 1 of chapter 43 of the Harmonized Tariff

13 Schedule of the United States.

14 (2) CUSTOMS LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES.—

15 The term ‘‘customs laws of the United States’’

16 means any law enforced or administered by the Cus17 toms Service of the United States.

18 (3) INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The term ‘‘inter19 state commerce’’ has the same meaning given such

20 term in section 10 of title 18, United States Code.

21 (4) IMPORT.—The term ‘‘import’’ means to

22 land on, bring into, or introduce into, any place sub23 ject to the jurisdiction of the United States, whether

24 or not such landing, bringing, or introduction con25 stitutes an entry into the customs territory of the

26 United States.
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1 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes any

2 individual, partnership, association, corporation,

3 trust, or any officer, employee, agent, department,

4 or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of

5 any State or political subdivision thereof, or any

6 other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United

7 States.

8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

9 the Secretary of the Interior.

10 (7) CONVENTIONAL STEEL-JAWED LEGHOLD

11 TRAP.—The term ‘‘conventional steel-jawed leghold

12 trap’’ means any spring-powered pan- or sear-acti13 vated device with two opposing steel-jaws, whether

14 the jaws are smooth, toothed, padded, or offset, de15 signed to capture an animal by snapping closed upon

16 the animal’s limb or part thereof.

17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES.

18 (a) OFFENSES.—It is unlawful for any person

19 knowingly—

20 (1) to import, export, ship, or receive in inter21 state commerce an article of fur if any part of the

22 article of fur is derived from an animal that was

23 trapped in a conventional steel-jawed leghold trap;
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1 (2) to import, export, deliver, carry, transport,

2 or ship, by any means whatever, in interstate com3 merce, any conventional steel-jawed leghold trap; or

4 (3) to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any

5 conventional steel-jawed leghold trap that was deliv6 ered, carried, transported, or shipped in violation of

7 paragraph (2).

8 (b) PENALTIES.—A person who violates subsection

9 (a), in addition to any other penalty that may be

10 imposed—

11 (1) for the first such violation, shall be guilty

12 of an infraction punishable under title 18, United

13 States Code; and

14 (2) for each subsequent violation, shall be im15 prisoned not more than 2 years, fined under title 18,

16 United States Code, or both.

17 SEC. 4. REWARDS.

18 The Secretary shall pay, to any person who furnishes

19 information which leads to a conviction of a violation of

20 any provision of this Act or any regulation issued there21 under, an amount equal to one-half of the fine paid pursu22 ant to the conviction. Any officer or employee of the

23 United States or of any State or local government who

24 furnishes information or renders service in the perform-
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1 ance of his or her official duties is not eligible for payment

2 under this section.

3 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except with respect to violations

5 of this Act to which subsection (b) applies, the provisions

6 of this Act and any regulations issued pursuant thereto

7 shall be enforced by the Secretary, who may use by agree8 ment, with or without reimbursement, the personnel, serv9 ices, and facilities of any other Federal agency or of any

10 State agency for purposes of enforcing this Act.

11 (b) EXPORT AND IMPORT VIOLATIONS.—

12 (1) IMPORT VIOLATIONS.—The importation of

13 articles in violation of section 3 shall be treated as

14 a violation of the customs laws of the United States,

15 and the provisions of law relating to violations of the

16 customs laws shall apply thereto.

17 (2) EXPORT VIOLATIONS.—The provisions of

18 the Export Administration Act of 1979 (including

19 the penalty provisions) (50 U.S.C. App. 2401 et

20 seq.) shall apply for purposes of enforcing the prohi21 bition relating to the export of articles described in

22 section 3.

23 (c) JUDICIAL PROCESS.—The district courts of the

24 United States may, within their respective jurisdictions,

25 upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause,
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1 issue such warrants or other process as may be required

2 for enforcement of this Act and any regulation issued

3 thereunder.

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.—Any individual

5 having authority to enforce this Act (except with respect

6 to violations to which subsection (b) applies), may, in exer7 cising such authority—

8 (1) detain for inspection, search, and seizure

9 any package, crate, or other container, including its

10 contents, and all accompanying documents, if such

11 individual has reasonable cause to suspect that in

12 such package, crate, or other container are articles

13 with respect to which a violation of this Act (except

14 with respect to violations to which subsection (b) ap15 plies) has occurred, is occurring, or is about to

16 occur;

17 (2) make arrests without a warrant for any vio18 lation of this Act (except with respect to violations

19 to which subsection (b) applies) committed in the in20 dividual’s presence or view or if the individual has

21 probable cause to believe that the person to be ar22 rested has committed or is committing such a viola23 tion; and

24 (3) execute and serve any arrest warrant,

25 search warrant, or other warrant or criminal process
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1 issued by any judge or magistrate of any court of

2 competent jurisdiction for enforcement of this Act

3 (except with respect to violations to which subsection

4 (b) applies).

5 (e) FORFEITURE.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (3), any article of fur or conventional steel8 jawed leghold trap taken, possessed, sold, purchased,

9 offered for sale or purchase, transported, delivered,

10 received, carried, or shipped in violation of this Act

11 shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States.

12 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The provisions of law

13 relating to—

14 (A) the seizure, summary and judicial for15 feiture, and condemnation of property for viola16 tions of the customs laws,

17 (B) the disposition of such property or the

18 proceeds from the sale thereof,

19 (C) the remission or mitigation of such for20 feitures, and

21 (D) the compromise of claims,

22 shall apply to seizures and forfeitures under this

23 subsection, except that the duties performed by a

24 customs officer or any other person with respect to

25 the seizure and forfeiture of property under the cus-
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1 toms laws of the United States may be performed

2 with respect to seizures and forfeitures of property

3 under this subsection by the Secretary or such offi4 cers and employees as the Secretary may designate.

5 (3) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of the Export

6 Administration Act of 1979 shall apply with respect

7 to the seizure and forfeiture of any article of fur or

8 conventional steel-jawed leghold trap exported in vio9 lation of this Act, and the customs laws of the

10 United States shall apply with respect to the seizure

11 and forfeiture of any such article or trap imported

12 in violation of this Act.

13 (f) INJUNCTIONS.—The Attorney General of the

14 United States may seek to enjoin any person who is al15 leged to be in violation of any provision of this Act.

16 (g) COOPERATION.—The Secretary of Commerce, the

17 Secretary of the Treasury, and the head of any other de18 partment or agency with enforcement responsibilities

19 under this Act shall cooperate with the Secretary in ensur20 ing that this Act is enforced in the most effective and effi21 cient manner.

22 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

23 The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as are

24 necessary to carry out this Act.
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1 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year

3 after the date of enactment.

Æ