I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1788 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase enforcement with respect 

to violations of that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2023 

Ms. MALLIOTAKIS (for herself, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. NUNN of Iowa) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase enforcement 

with respect to violations of that 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 ‘‘Goldie’s Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INCREASING USDA ENFORCEMENT OF VIOLATIONS 

6 OF ANIMAL WELFARE ACT. 

7 (a) VIOLATION DEFINED.—Section 2 of the Animal 

8 Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(p) The term ‘violation’ means, with respect to a 

2 provision of this Act or any regulation or standard issued 

3 thereunder, any deficiency, deviation, or other failure to 

4 comply with any such provision or regulation or stand5 ard.’’. 

6 (b) INSPECTIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 

7 16(a) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2146(a)) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(a)(1) The Secretary shall determine whether any 

10 dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, carrier, research 

11 facility, or operator of an auction sale subject to section 

12 12 of this Act, has violated or is violating any provision 

13 of this Act or any regulation or standard issued there14 under. 

15 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall, at all reasonable times, 

16 have access to the places of business and the facilities, 

17 animals, and those records required to be kept pursuant 

18 to section 10 of any such dealer, exhibitor, intermediate 

19 handler, carrier, research facility, or operator of an auc20 tion sale. 

21 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall make such inspections and 

22 investigations necessary to make such a determination and 

23 shall document and record a detailed description of any 

24 violation observed during such inspections and investiga25 tions. The Secretary shall inspect each research facility 


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1 and the premises of each dealer, and each exhibitor, in2 cluding any properties, animals, facilities, vehicles, equip3 ments or other premises used or intended for use in an 

4 activity subject to regulation under this Act, at least once 

5 each year and, in the case of any violation of this Act, 

6 shall conduct such follow-up inspections as may be nec7 essary until all such violations are corrected. 

8 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall promulgate such rules 

9 and regulations necessary to require inspectors to con10 fiscate or destroy in a humane manner any animal de11 scribed in subparagraph (B). Such confiscation shall occur 

12 promptly upon discovery during an inspection or investiga13 tion conducted pursuant to this section of an animal meet14 ing the criteria specified in clause (i) of such subpara15 graph. Any dealer, exhibitor, intermediate handler, or car16 rier that has been notified of the intent of an inspector 

17 to confiscate such an animal shall be prohibited from de18 stroying that animal, in any manner, and until the Sec19 retary has completed that confiscation, shall be prohibited 

20 from destroying any other animal in their ownership or 

21 possession, without prior written consent to do so from 

22 the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(B) An animal described in this subparagraph is an 

24 animal that is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) found during an inspection or investigation 

2 conducted pursuant to this section to be suffering 

3 physical or psychological harm as a result of a fail4 ure to comply with any provision of this Act or any 

5 regulation or standard issued thereunder; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) held by a dealer, exhibitor, an operator of 

7 an auction sale, an intermediate handler or carrier, 

8 or a research facility, and in the case of an animal 

9 held by a research facility, no longer required by 

10 such research facility to carry out the research, test, 

11 or experiment for which such animal has been uti12 lized.’’. 

13 (c) AGENCY COOPERATION.—Section 15 of the Ani14 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2145) is amended by adding 

15 at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall provide a copy of all records 

17 documenting any violation identified during inspection or 

18 investigation pursuant to section 16 to State, local, and 

19 municipal animal control or law enforcement officials of 

20 appropriate jurisdiction within 24 hours of such inspection 

21 or investigation.’’. 

22 (d) REVOCATION OF LICENSE, CIVIL PENALTIES, AP23 PEAL, FINES, AND IMPRISONMENT.—Section 19(b) of the 

24 Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(b)) is amended to 

25 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(b)(1) Any dealer, exhibitor, research facility, inter2 mediate handler, carrier, or operator of an auction sale 

3 subject to section 12 of this Act, that violates any provi4 sion of this Act, or any rule, regulation, or standard pro5 mulgated by the Secretary thereunder, shall be subject to 

6 a civil penalty by the Secretary of not more than $10,000 

7 for each such violation, and the Secretary shall also make 

8 an order that such person shall cease and desist from con9 tinuing such violation. Each violation and each day during 

10 which a violation continues shall be a separate offense. 

11 ‘‘(2) Verified delivery of an inspection report pre12 pared pursuant to section 16 shall serve as notice for pur13 poses of this section. No penalty shall be assessed or cease 

14 and desist order issued unless such person is given notice 

15 and opportunity to be heard with respect to the alleged 

16 violation, and the order of the Secretary assessing a pen17 alty and making a cease and desist order shall be final 

18 and conclusive unless the affected person files an appeal 

19 from the Secretary’s order with the appropriate United 

20 States Court of Appeals. 

21 ‘‘(3) A hearing under this section shall be conducted 

22 by, at minimum, one veterinarian, and two additional ani23 mal care specialists or directors. A hearing under this sec24 tion shall take place within 21 days after notice of the 


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1 violation has been delivered unless the Secretary identifies 

2 a reasonable basis for continuance. 

3 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall give due consideration to the 

4 appropriateness of the penalty with respect to the size of 

5 the business of the person involved, the gravity of the vio6 lation, the person’s good faith, and the history of previous 

7 violations. Any such penalty shall be calculated on a per 

8 animal and per violation basis and may not be reduced 

9 by 10 percent or more. The Secretary shall designate a 

10 responsible party within the Department of Agriculture to 

11 establish penalty guidelines for violations and to verify 

12 that the Department adheres to such guidelines. Such 

13 guidelines shall be established in a manner to reasonably 

14 discourage future violations. 

15 ‘‘(5) Upon any failure to pay the penalty assessed by 

16 a final order under this section, the Secretary shall request 

17 the Attorney General to institute a civil action in a district 

18 court of the United States or other United States court 

19 for any district in which such person is found or resides 

20 or transacts business, to collect the penalty, and such 

21 court shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide any such 

22 action. Any person who knowingly fails to obey a cease 

23 and desist order made by the Secretary under this section 

24 shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,500.’’. 

Æ 


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