I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3277 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase protections for animals, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2021 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. LIEU, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Mr. VARGAS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. 
ESHOO, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. JOHN-
SON of Georgia, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. JONES, 
Mr. NADLER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COO-
PER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, 
Mr. POCAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. 
KILMER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. 
TLAIB, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. 
CONNOLLY, Mr. CORREA, Mr. YARMUTH, and Ms. JACOBS of California) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ag-
riculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase protections 
for animals, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Welfare En-
forcement Improvement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO ISSUANCE OF 
LICENSES. 
Section 3 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2133) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 3. LICENSES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c), (d), 
and (e), the Secretary shall issue licenses to dealers and 
exhibitors upon— 
‘‘(1) the submission of an application for such 
license that— 
‘‘(A) contains an inventory of all animals 
present in all of the applicant’s facilities; and 
‘‘(B) is submitted in such form and man-
ner as the Secretary may prescribe; and 
‘‘(2) payment of such fee established pursuant 
to section 23. 
‘‘(b) VALIDITY OF LICENSE.—A license issued under 
subsection (a) shall be valid for a period not to exceed 
1 calendar year. An applicant shall submit an application 
under such subsection to renew such license each calendar 
year before the expiration of the previously issued license. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITED DEALERS AND EXHIBITORS.—Not-
withstanding subsection (a), the Secretary may not issue 
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a license (including a renewal of such a license) under such 
subsection to a dealer or exhibitor if— 
‘‘(1) such dealer or exhibitor has been found to 
have 
violated 
(including 
by 
entering 
a 
nolo 
contendere or no contest plea with respect to the vio-
lation) Federal, State, or local laws relating to ani-
mals, including this Act and any other anti-animal 
cruelty or wildlife protection law; or 
‘‘(2) the issuance of a license to such dealer or 
exhibitor would facilitate the circumvention of State 
or local law prohibiting the private ownership of cer-
tain animals. 
‘‘(d) UNANNOUNCED FACILITY INSPECTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 
(a) and except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
Secretary may not issue a license (including a re-
newal of such a license) under such subsection to a 
dealer or exhibitor until the dealer or exhibitor shall 
have demonstrated for the one year period preceding 
the date on which the application for such license is 
submitted, through full, unannounced inspections, 
that the facilities of such dealer or exhibitor at the 
time of inspection— 
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‘‘(A) comply with the standards promul-
gated by the Secretary pursuant to section 13; 
and 
‘‘(B) have not been documented as having 
not complied with any such standard during 
more than one inspection in the previous two 
calendar years. 
‘‘(2) NEW APPLICANTS.—In the case of an ap-
plicant seeking to be licensed as a dealer or exhibitor 
under subsection (a) who has not previously been so 
licensed, the applicant shall not be subject to more 
than 2 inspections conducted pursuant to paragraph 
(1). Both such inspections shall be conducted within 
the 90-day period that begins on the date of the re-
ceipt of the application by the Secretary. If, upon 
the second inspection, the applicant is found to have 
failed to meet any standard promulgated by the Sec-
retary pursuant to section 13, the Secretary shall 
deny the application for such license and such appli-
cant may not submit an application for such a li-
cense for a one-year period beginning on the date on 
which the application is so denied. 
‘‘(e) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 
dealer or exhibitor shall not be required to obtain a license 
as a dealer or exhibitor under this Act if the size of the 
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