I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1919 
To amend the Animal Health Protection Act to provide chronic wasting 
disease support for States and coordinated response efforts, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2019 
Mr. KELLY of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. GIBBS, Mrs. CRAIG, Mr. THOMP-
SON of Mississippi, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. 
PALAZZO, Mr. GUEST, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, 
and Mr. WOMACK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Animal Health Protection Act to provide 
chronic wasting disease support for States and coordi-
nated response efforts, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Detection, Enhanced 
Education, and Response Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DEER 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SUPPORT FOR STATES 
AND COORDINATED RESPONSE EFFORTS. 
The Animal Health Protection Act is amended by in-
serting after section 10409A (7 U.S.C. 8308a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 10409B. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SUPPORT FOR 
STATES AND COORDINATED RESPONSE EF-
FORTS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.— 
In this section, the term ‘chronic wasting disease’ means 
the animal disease afflicting deer, elk, and moose popu-
lations that— 
‘‘(1) is a transmissible disease of the nervous 
system resulting in distinctive lesions in the brain; 
and 
‘‘(2) belongs to the group of diseases known as 
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which in-
cludes scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, 
and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease. 
‘‘(b) SUPPORT FOR STATE EFFORTS TO MANAGE 
AND CONTROL CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.— 
‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Sec-
retary shall allocate funds made available under sub-
section (e) directly to State departments of wildlife 
and State departments of agriculture to further de-
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velop and implement chronic wasting disease surveil-
lance, testing, management, and response activities. 
‘‘(2) FUNDING
PRIORITIES.—In determining 
the amounts to be allocated to State departments of 
wildlife and agriculture, the Secretary shall give pri-
ority to States that— 
‘‘(A) have experienced a recent incidence of 
chronic wasting disease; 
‘‘(B) have a chronic wasting disease moni-
toring and surveillance program; and 
‘‘(C) have a diagnostic laboratory system 
certified for chronic wasting disease testing. 
‘‘(c) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MULTIAGENCY 
TASK FORCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a multiagency task force that shall— 
‘‘(A) establish a unified response frame-
work to better position the Department of Agri-
culture to respond to the growing threat of 
chronic wasting disease; 
‘‘(B) provide a single Federal point of con-
tact for Federal and State entities that work on 
chronic wasting disease issues; 
‘‘(C) determine funding priorities and allo-
cation of resources; and 
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‘‘(D) disseminate information to the public 
relating to chronic wasting disease. 
‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The multiagency task 
force established under paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) be led by the Administrator of the 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; 
and 
‘‘(B) include 1 or more representatives 
from each of the following: 
‘‘(i) The Agricultural Research Serv-
ice. 
‘‘(ii) The National Institute of Food 
and Agriculture. 
‘‘(iii) The Forest Service. 
‘‘(iv) The United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service. 
‘‘(v) State departments of wildlife. 
‘‘(vi) State departments of agri-
culture. 
‘‘(vii) Institutions of higher education. 
‘‘(d) MID-SOUTH
CENTER
OF
EXCELLENCE
IN 
WILDLIFE DISEASES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 
a grant to a land-grant college or university (as de-
fined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural 
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