I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4211 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase protections for animals, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 27, 2019 

Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase protections 

for animals, 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 En5 forcement Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ISSUANCE OF 

7 LICENSES. 

8 Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2133) 

9 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3. LICENSES. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c), (d), 

3 and (e), the Secretary shall issue licenses to dealers and 

4 exhibitors upon— 

5 ‘‘(1) the submission of an application for such 

6 license that— 

7 ‘‘(A) contains an inventory of all animals 

8 present in all of the applicant’s facilities; and 

9 ‘‘(B) is submitted in such form and man10 ner as the Secretary may prescribe; and 

11 ‘‘(2) payment of such fee established pursuant 

12 to section 23. 

13 ‘‘(b) VALIDITY OF LICENSE.—A license issued under 

14 subsection (a) shall be valid for a period not to exceed 

15 1 calendar year. An applicant shall submit an application 

16 under such subsection to renew such license each calendar 

17 year before the expiration of the previously issued license. 

18 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITED DEALERS AND EXHIBITORS.—Not19 withstanding subsection (a), the Secretary may not issue 

20 a license (including a renewal of such a license) under such 

21 subsection to a dealer or exhibitor if— 

22 ‘‘(1) such dealer or exhibitor has been found to 

23 have violated (including by entering a nolo 

24 contendere or no contest plea with respect to the vio25 lation) Federal, State, or local laws relating to aniVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4211.IH H4211

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1 mals, including this Act and any other anti-animal 

2 cruelty or wildlife protection law; or 

3 ‘‘(2) the issuance of a license to such dealer or 

4 exhibitor would facilitate the circumvention of State 

5 or local law prohibiting the private ownership of cer6 tain animals. 

7 ‘‘(d) UNANNOUNCED FACILITY INSPECTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

9 (a) and subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary may 

10 not issue a license (including a renewal of such a li11 cense) under such subsection to a dealer or exhibitor 

12 until the dealer or exhibitor shall have demonstrated, 

13 through full, unannounced inspections, that the fa14 cilities of such dealer or exhibitor at the time of in15 spection— 

16 ‘‘(A) comply with the standards promul17 gated by the Secretary pursuant to section 13; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) have not been documented as having 

20 not complied with any such standard during 

21 more than one inspection in the previous two 

22 calendar years. 

23 ‘‘(2) NEW APPLICANTS.—In the case of an ap24 plicant seeking to be licensed as a dealer or exhibitor 

25 under subsection (a) who has not previously been so 


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1 licensed, the applicant shall not be subject to more 

2 than 2 inspections conducted pursuant to paragraph 

3 (1). If, upon the second inspection, the applicant is 

4 found to have failed to meet any standard promul5 gated by the Secretary pursuant to section 13, the 

6 Secretary shall deny the application for such license 

7 and such applicant may not submit an application 

8 for such a license for a one-year period beginning on 

9 the date on which the application is so denied. 

10 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 

11 dealer or exhibitor shall not be required to obtain a license 

12 as a dealer or exhibitor under this Act if the size of the 

13 business is determined by the Secretary to be de mini14 mis.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. LICENSE SUSPENSIONS AND REVOCATIONS. 

16 Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 

17 2149) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘hereunder, he may sus20 pend’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘here21 under— 

22 ‘‘(1) in the case of any such violation that is 

23 not described in paragraph (2), the Secretary may 

24 suspend’’; 


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1 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

2 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(2) in the case of such a violation that the 

6 Secretary determines presents a risk to animal wel7 fare, the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) suspend such person’s license tempo9 rarily, but for a period not to exceed 21 days; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) after notice and opportunity for an 

12 informal hearing, permanently revoke such li13 cense if the Secretary determines that— 

14 ‘‘(i) the violation occurred; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the violation presents or has pre16 sented a risk to animal welfare; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the violation has persisted past 

18 the initial period of license suspension 

19 under subparagraph (A) or the person has 

20 been found to have committed one or more 

21 other such violations (including by entering 

22 a nolo contendere or no contest plea with 

23 respect to any such violation) affecting ani24 mal welfare.’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e)(1) Any person whose license has been suspended 

2 for any reason shall not be licensed, or registered, in his 

3 or her own name or in any other manner, within the period 

4 during which the order of suspension is in effect. No fam5 ily member, household member, partnership, firm, cor6 poration, or other legal entity in which any such person 

7 has a substantial interest, financial or otherwise, will be 

8 licensed or registered during that period. 

9 ‘‘(2) Any person whose license has been revoked shall 

10 not be licensed or registered, in his or her own name or 

11 in any other manner, at any time, and no family member, 

12 household member, partnership, firm, corporation, or 

13 other legal entity in which any such person has a substan14 tial interest, financial or otherwise, will be licensed or reg15 istered. 

16 ‘‘(3) Any person whose license has been suspended 

17 or revoked shall not buy, sell, transport, exhibit, deliver 

18 for transportation, or be employed in any capacity with 

19 respect to any animal during the period of suspension or 

20 revocation, under any circumstances, whether on his or 

21 her behalf or on the behalf of another licensee or reg22 istrant.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CITIZEN SUITS. 

2 Section 19 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 

3 2149), as amended by section 3, is further amended by 

4 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any per6 son may commence a civil suit on his own behalf to enjoin 

7 any person, including the United States and any other 

8 governmental instrumentality or agency (to the extent per9 mitted by the eleventh amendment to the Constitution), 

10 who is alleged to be in violation of any provision of this 

11 Act or regulation issued under the authority thereof. The 

12 district courts shall have jurisdiction, without regard to 

13 the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties, 

14 to enforce any such provision or regulation or to order the 

15 Secretary to perform such act or duty, as the case may 

16 be. 

17 ‘‘(2) No action may be commenced under paragraph 

18 (1)— 

19 ‘‘(A) prior to sixty days after written notice of 

20 the violation has been given to the Secretary, and to 

21 any alleged violator of any such provision or regula22 tion; and 

23 ‘‘(B) if the United States has commenced and 

24 is diligently prosecuting a criminal action in a court 

25 of the United States to redress a violation of any 

26 such provision or regulation. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Any suit under this subsection may be 

2 brought in the judicial district in which the violation oc3 curs. 

4 ‘‘(B) In any such suit under this subsection in which 

5 the United States is not a party, the Attorney General, 

6 at the request of the Secretary, may intervene on behalf 

7 of the United States as a matter of right. 

8 ‘‘(4) The court, in issuing any final order in any suit 

9 brought pursuant to paragraph (1), may award costs of 

10 litigation (including reasonable attorney and expert wit11 ness fees) to any party, whenever the court determines 

12 such award is appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(5) The injunctive relief provided by this subsection 

14 shall not restrict any right which any person (or class of 

15 persons) may have under any statute or common law to 

16 seek enforcement of any standard or limitation or to seek 

17 any other relief (including relief against the Secretary or 

18 a State agency).’’. 

19 SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON VIOLATIONS. 

20 The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting be21 fore section 26 (7 U.S.C. 2156) the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 25A. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION ON ENFORCE23 MENT. 

24 ‘‘The Secretary shall publish, in a searchable format 

25 on a public website of the Department of Agriculture, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 Aug 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4211.IH H4211

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1 formation and reports (in their entirety and without redac2 tion) on the nature and place of all investigations and in3 spections conducted by the Secretary under section 16 (in4 cluding all reports documenting all instances of non5 compliance with this Act observed during any such inspec6 tion), enforcement records, and animal inventories.’’. 

Æ 


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