I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2360

To establish the Office of Law Enforcement in the United States Fish

and Wildlife Service.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 9, 1993

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

Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries

A BILL

To establish the Office of Law Enforcement in the United

States Fish and Wildlife Service.

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 ‘‘United States Fish

5 and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Clarification and

6 Enhancement Act’’.

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

8 The Congress finds the following:

9 (1) The law enforcement responsibilities of the

10 United States Fish and Wildlife Service have evolved
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1 far beyond the realm of ensuring compliance with

2 hunting and fishing regulations. Increasing visitor

3 utilization and urbanization of refuges bring with

4 them associated problems of crime. The expansion of

5 international treaties and attendant responsibilities

6 have increased tremendously in recent years. The il7 legal trade in wildlife products is becoming increas8 ingly well organized and commercial and is often as9 sociated with other criminal activities such as nar10 cotics, money laundering, weapons dealing, and tax

11 fraud.

12 (2) The concerns and needs of the United

13 States Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement

14 Division are not adequately represented at the direc15 torate level and the degree of agency support for law

16 enforcement is at the discretion of the Director and,

17 therefore, is inconsistent over time.

18 (3) Partly as a result of the lack of directorate

19 level representation for law enforcement, the Law

20 Enforcement Division is grossly understaffed and

21 underfunded. Three decades of documentation clear22 ly show that this is a chronic problem. The division

23 is unable to adequately enforce the wildlife protec24 tion laws enacted by the Congress and as a result—

25 (A) wildlife populations are in danger;
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1 (B) although the legal and illegal trade in

2 wildlife products is increasing, the percentage of

3 shipments of those products that are inspected

4 is decreasing; and

5 (C) the percentage of shipments inspected

6 that are in violation of wildlife protection laws

7 is increasing.

8 (4) Although the law enforcement program of

9 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service should

10 not be any more important than other Service pro11 grams, law enforcement is fundamentally different

12 than the other programs and would be better inte13 grated into the overall mission of the Service if it

14 operated at the directorate level.

15 (5) A directorate level status for the United

16 States Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement

17 Division is necessary in order to improve commu18 nication, coordination, consistency, control, and over19 sight of law enforcement activities of the United

20 States Fish and Wildlife Service.

21 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNCTIONS OF UNITED

22 STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.

23 The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a

24 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 15. DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Division of Law En3 forcement is hereby established in the office of the Direc4 tor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

5 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR LAW ENFORCE6 MENT.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Director for

8 Law Enforcement shall be the head of the Division

9 of Law Enforcement, and shall be appointed by the

10 President from among individuals who have wildlife

11 law enforcement experience.

12 ‘‘(2) CAREER RESERVED POSITION.—The As13 sistant Director for Law Enforcement shall be a ca14 reer reserved position within the meaning of that

15 term under section 3132(a) of title 5, United States

16 Code.

17 ‘‘(3) LOCATION.—The office of the Assistant

18 Director for Law Enforcement shall be located in

19 the District of Columbia.

20 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Assistant Director for Law

21 Enforcement shall administer the law enforcement func22 tions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.’’.

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