II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1453

To prohibit the regulation by the Secretary of Health and Human Services

and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs of any activities of sponsors

or sponsorship programs connected with, or any advertising used or

purchased by, the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association, its agents

or affiliates, or any other professional rodeo association, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 7, 1995

Mr. BURNS (for himself, Mr. CRAIG, Mr. REID, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. BRYAN, and

Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To prohibit the regulation by the Secretary of Health and

Human Services and the Commissioner of Food and

Drugs of any activities of sponsors or sponsorship programs connected with, or any advertising used or purchased by, the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association,

its agents or affiliates, or any other professional rodeo

association, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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•S 1453 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rodeo Freedom Act

3 of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) professional rodeo is an important and pop7 ular spectator sport that is attended by an estimated

8 18,000,000 American adults annually across the

9 United States and particularly in the Western and

10 Southwestern regions;

11 (2) in the Western and Southwestern regions,

12 the sport of rodeo has a long and interesting history

13 and therefore, is of great cultural and social signifi14 cance to such States;

15 (3) the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association

16 has 10,000 members and sponsors approximately

17 800 rodeos in 46 States every year;

18 (4) because of its cultural associations with the

19 Western and Southwestern regions of the United

20 States, the rodeo is an important attraction for do21 mestic and foreign tourism to those regions;

22 (5) the professional rodeo and the support in23 dustries associated with professional rodeo generate

24 substantial economic activity in host communities

25 and are significant sources of income, economic se-
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1 curity, employment, recreation, and enjoyment for

2 Americans;

3 (6) the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association

4 enjoys the freedom to choose the sponsors or spon5 sorship programs associated with the rodeos of the

6 association;

7 (7) the sponsors or sponsorship programs asso8 ciated with the rodeos of the Professional Rodeo

9 Cowboy Association assist in sustaining the sport of

10 rodeo and in making such sport affordable and ac11 cessible to millions of adult rodeo fans across Amer12 ica;

13 (8) despite the enjoyment that millions of

14 Americans derive from watching rodeo events, and

15 the importance of such events to the economies of

16 the Western and Southwestern regions and of the

17 United States, Federal agencies other than the Fed18 eral Trade Commission have proposed restrictions

19 upon the activities of sponsors, sponsorship pro20 grams, or advertising connected with rodeo events;

21 and

22 (9) such restrictions, if adopted will—

23 (A) jeopardize the continued financial via24 bility of professional rodeos;
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1 (B) result in a considerable financial loss

2 to tourism and other related industries;

3 (C) interfere with the enjoyment of rodeo

4 events by millions of American adults who at5 tend rodeos annually; and

6 (D) impose unconstitutional limitations on

7 both commercial speech and the freedom of as8 sociation of the membership of the Professional

9 Rodeo Cowboys Association.

10 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION.

11 The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the

12 Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall have no authority

13 under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21

14 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) to regulate—

15 (1) activities of sponsors or sponsorship pro16 grams connected with—

17 (A) the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Asso18 ciation or its activities or events; or

19 (B) any other professional rodeo associa20 tion or the agents or affiliates of such associa21 tion or the activities or events of such associa22 tion, agents, or affiliates; or

23 (2) advertising that is used or purchased by, or

24 that is in connection with—
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1 (A) the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Asso2 ciation or its activities or events; or

3 (B) any other professional rodeo associa4 tion or the agents or affiliates of such associa5 tion or the activities or events of such associa6 tion, agents, or affiliates.

7 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 This Act shall take effect as if enacted on August

9 10, 1995.

Æ