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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Fish
and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement Clarification and
Enhancement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The law enforcement responsibilities of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service have evolved
far beyond the realm of ensuring compliance with
hunting and fishing regulations. Increasing visitor
utilization and urbanization of refuges bring with
them associated problems of crime. The expansion of
international treaties and attendant responsibilities
have increased tremendously in recent years. The il-
legal trade in wildlife products is becoming increas-
ingly well organized and commercial and is often as-
sociated with other criminal activities such as nar-
cotics, money laundering, weapons dealing, and tax
fraud.
(2) The concerns and needs of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement
Division are not adequately represented at the direc-
torate level and the degree of agency support for law
enforcement is at the discretion of the Director and,
therefore, is inconsistent over time.
(3) Partly as a result of the lack of directorate
level representation for law enforcement, the Law
Enforcement Division is grossly understaffed and
underfunded. Three decades of documentation clear-
ly show that this is a chronic problem. The division
is unable to adequately enforce the wildlife protec-
tion laws enacted by the Congress and as a result—
(A) wildlife populations are in danger;
(B) although the legal and illegal trade in
wildlife products is increasing, the percentage of
shipments of those products that are inspected
is decreasing; and
(C) the percentage of shipments inspected
that are in violation of wildlife protection laws
is increasing.
(4) Although the law enforcement program of
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service should
not be any more important than other Service pro-
grams, law enforcement is fundamentally different
than the other programs and would be better inte-
grated into the overall mission of the Service if it
operated at the directorate level.
(5) A directorate level status for the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement
Division is necessary in order to improve commu-
nication, coordination, consistency, control, and over-
sight of law enforcement activities of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service.
SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNCTIONS OF UNITED
STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.
The Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742a
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 15. DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Division of Law En-
forcement is hereby established in the office of the Direc-
tor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
‘‘(b) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Director for
Law Enforcement shall be the head of the Division
of Law Enforcement, and shall be appointed by the
President from among individuals who have wildlife
law enforcement experience.
‘‘(2) CAREER RESERVED POSITION.—The As-
sistant Director for Law Enforcement shall be a ca-
reer reserved position within the meaning of that
term under section 3132(a) of title 5, United States
Code.
‘‘(3) LOCATION.—The office of the Assistant
Director for Law Enforcement shall be located in
the District of Columbia.
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The Assistant Director for Law
Enforcement shall administer the law enforcement func-
tions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.’’.
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