I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1368 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2017 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BEYER, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. KEATING, Ms. LEE, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. 

SHEA-PORTER, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Mr. WELCH, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. POCAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CRIST, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Energy and Commerce, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 depreciaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Mar 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1368.IH H1368

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tion system for taxpayers violating rules under the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Welfare Ac5 countability and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REGULATORY RECORDS. 

7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later 

8 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

9 Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the 

10 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall maintain and promptly make available 

11 to the public in an online searchable database in a ma12 chine-readable format on the website of the Department 

13 of Agriculture information relating to the administration 

14 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) and 

15 the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821 et seq.), includ16 ing— 

17 (1) the entirety of each report of any inspection 

18 conducted, and record of any enforcement action 

19 taken, under— 

20 (A) either of those Acts; or 

21 (B) any regulation issued under those 

22 Acts; 

23 (2) with respect to the Animal Welfare Act— 


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1 (A) the entirety of each annual report sub2 mitted by a research facility under section 13 of 

3 that Act (7 U.S.C. 2143); and 

4 (B) the name, address, and license or reg5 istration number of each research facility, ex6 hibitor, dealer, and other person or establish7 ment— 

8 (i) licensed by the Secretary under 

9 section 3 or 12 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 

10 2133, 2142); or 

11 (ii) registered with the Secretary 

12 under section 6 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 

13 2136); and 

14 (3) with respect to the Horse Protection Act, 

15 the name and address of— 

16 (A) any person that is licensed to conduct 

17 any inspection under section 4(c) of that Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 1823(c)); or 

19 (B) any organization or association that is 

20 licensed by the Department of Agriculture to 

21 promote horses through— 

22 (i) the showing, exhibiting, sale, auc23 tion, or registry of horses; or 

24 (ii) the conduct of any activity that 

25 contributes to the advancement of horses. 


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1 SEC. 3. USE OF ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION SYSTEM FOR 

2 TAXPAYERS VIOLATING CERTAIN ANIMAL 

3 PROTECTION RULES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 168(g)(1) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end of subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end of subparagraph (E), and by inserting after subpara8 graph (E) the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(F) any property placed in service by a 

10 disqualified taxpayer during an applicable pe11 riod,’’. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 168(g) of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(8) DISQUALIFIED TAXPAYER; APPLICABLE

16 PERIOD.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(F)— 

17 ‘‘(A) DISQUALIFIED TAXPAYER.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘dis19 qualified taxpayer’ means any taxpayer if 

20 such taxpayer— 

21 ‘‘(I) has been assessed a civil 

22 penalty under section 19(b) of the 

23 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 

24 2149(b)) or section 6(b) of the Horse 

25 Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(b)) 

26 and either the period for seeking judiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:38 Mar 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1368.IH H1368

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1 cial review of the final agency action 

2 has lapsed or there has been a final 

3 judgment with respect to an appeal of 

4 such assessment, or 

5 ‘‘(II) has been convicted under 

6 section 19(d) of the Animal Welfare 

7 Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(d)) or section 

8 6(a) of the Horse Protection Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 1825(a)) and there is a final 

10 judgment with respect to such convic11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(ii) AGGREGATION RULES.—All per13 sons treated as a single employer under 

14 subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or sub15 section (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be 

16 treated as one taxpayer for purposes of 

17 this subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—The term ‘ap19 plicable period’ means, with respect to any vio20 lation described in subparagraph (A), the 5-tax21 able-year period beginning with the taxable year 

22 in which the period for seeking judicial review 

23 of a civil penalty described in subparagraph 

24 (A)(i) has lapsed or in which there has been a 


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1 final judgment entered with respect to the viola2 tion, whichever is earlier.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The last sentence 

4 of section 179(d)(1) is amended by inserting ‘‘or any prop5 erty placed in service by a disqualified taxpayer (as de6 fined in section 168(g)(8)(A)) during an applicable period 

7 (as defined in section 168(g)(8)(B))’’ after ‘‘section 

8 50(b)’’. 

9 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to property placed in service in 

11 taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment 

12 of this section. 

Æ 


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