mal cruelty, such as the intentional crushing, burn-
ing, drowning, suffocating, or impaling of animals 
for no socially redeeming purpose. 
(4) There are certain extreme acts of animal cru-
elty that appeal to a specific sexual fetish. These acts 
of extreme animal cruelty are videotaped, and the re-
sulting video tapes are commonly referred to as ‘‘ani-
mal crush videos’’. 
(5) The Supreme Court of the United States has 
long held that obscenity is an exception to speech pro-
tected under the First Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States. 
(6) In the judgment of Congress, many animal 
crush videos are obscene in the sense that the depic-
tions, taken as a whole— 
(A) appeal to the prurient interest in sex; 
(B) are patently offensive; and 
(C) lack serious literary, artistic, political, 
or scientific value. 
(7) Serious criminal acts of extreme animal cru-
elty are integral to the creation, sale, distribution, ad-
vertising, marketing, and exchange of animal crush 
videos. 
(8) The creation, sale, distribution, advertising, 
marketing, and exchange of animal crush videos is in-
trinsically related and integral to creating an incen-
tive for, directly causing, and perpetuating demand 
for the serious acts of extreme animal cruelty the vid-
eos depict. The primary reason for those criminal acts 
is the creation, sale, distribution, advertising, mar-
keting, and exchange of the animal crush video image. 
(9) The serious acts of extreme animal cruelty 
necessary to make animal crush videos are committed 
in a clandestine manner that— 
(A) allows the perpetrators of such crimes to 
remain anonymous; 
(B) makes it extraordinarily difficult to es-
tablish the jurisdiction within which the under-
lying criminal acts of extreme animal cruelty oc-
curred; and 
(C) often precludes proof that the criminal 
acts occurred within the statute of limitations. 
(10) Each of the difficulties described in para-
graph (9) seriously frustrates and impedes the ability 
of State authorities to enforce the criminal statutes 
prohibiting such behavior. 
SEC. 3. ANIMAL CRUSH VIDEOS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 48 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 48. Animal crush videos 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section the term ‘animal 
crush video’ means any photograph, motion-picture film, 
video or digital recording, or electronic image that— 
‘‘(1) depicts actual conduct in which 1 or more 
living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or am-
phibians is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, 
suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious 
bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 and includ-
ing conduct that, if committed against a person and 
in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of 
the United States, would violate section 2241 or 
2242); and 
‘‘(2) is obscene. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS.— 
‘‘(1) CREATION OF ANIMAL CRUSH VIDEOS.—It 
shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly create 
an animal crush video, if— 
‘‘(A) the person intends or has reason to 
know that the animal crush video will be distrib-
uted in, or using a means or facility of, inter-
state or foreign commerce; or 
‘‘(B) the animal crush video is distributed 
in, or using a means or facility of, interstate or 
foreign commerce.
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION
OF
ANIMAL
CRUSH
VID-
EOS.—It shall be unlawful for any person to know-
ingly sell, market, advertise, exchange, or distribute 
an animal crush video in, or using a means or facil-
ity of, interstate or foreign commerce. 
‘‘(c) EXTRATERRITORIAL APPLICATION.—Subsection 
(b) shall apply to the knowing sale, marketing, advertising, 
exchange, distribution, or creation of an animal crush video 
outside of the United States, if— 
‘‘(1) the person engaging in such conduct intends 
or has reason to know that the animal crush video 
will be transported into the United States or its terri-
tories or possessions; or 
‘‘(2) the animal crush video is transported into 
the United States or its territories or possessions. 
‘‘(d) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 
(b) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more 
than 7 years, or both. 
‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall not apply 
with regard to any visual depiction of— 
‘‘(A) customary and normal veterinary or 
agricultural husbandry practices; 
‘‘(B) the slaughter of animals for food; or 
‘‘(C) hunting, trapping, or fishing.
‘‘(2) GOOD-FAITH DISTRIBUTION.—This section 
shall not apply to the good-faith distribution of an 
animal crush video to— 
‘‘(A) a law enforcement agency; or 
‘‘(B) a third party for the sole purpose of 
analysis to determine if referral to a law enforce-
ment agency is appropriate. 
‘‘(f) NO PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
be construed to preempt the law of any State or local sub-
division thereof to protect animals.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to sec-
tion 48 in the table of sections for chapter 3 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘48. Animal crush videos.’’. 
(c) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of section 48 of 
title 18, United States Code (as amended by this section), 
or the application of the provision to any person or cir-
cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the provision and 
the application of the provision to other persons or cir-
cumstances shall not be affected thereby. 
SEC. 4. PAYGO COMPLIANCE. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for purposes of com-
plying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, 
jointly submitted for printing in the Congressional Record
by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Commit-
tees, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 
to the vote on passage in the House acting first on this con-
ference report or amendments between the Houses. 
Attest: 
Clerk.