PAST Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 693 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 29, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 693 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘U.S. Senator Joseph 2 D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 3 2019’’ or the ‘‘PAST Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. INCREASED ENFORCEMENT UNDER HORSE PRO- 5 TECTION ACT. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Horse Protection 7 Act (15 U.S.C. 1821) is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 9 and (4) as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5), respec- 10 tively; 11 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 12 designated) the following new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘action device’ means any 14 boot, collar, chain, roller, or other device that encir- 15 cles or is placed upon the lower extremity of the leg 16 of a horse in such a manner that it can— 17 ‘‘(i) rotate around the leg or slide up and 18 down the leg, so as to cause friction; or 19 ‘‘(ii) strike the hoof, coronet band, fetlock 20 joint, or pastern of the horse. 21 ‘‘(B) Such term does not include soft rubber or 22 soft leather bell boots or quarter boots that are used 23 as protective devices.’’; and 24 (3) by adding at the end the following new 25 paragraph: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 693 RFS ‘‘(6)(A) The term ‘participate’ means engaging 1 in any activity with respect to a horse show, horse 2 exhibition, or horse sale or auction, including— 3 ‘‘(i) transporting or arranging for the 4 transportation of a horse to or from a horse 5 show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction; 6 ‘‘(ii) personally giving instructions to an 7 exhibitor; or 8 ‘‘(iii) being knowingly present in a warm- 9 up area, inspection area, or other area at a 10 horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 11 auction that spectators are not permitted to 12 enter. 13 ‘‘(B) Such term does not include spectating.’’. 14 (b) FINDINGS.—Section 3 of the Horse Protection 15 Act (15 U.S.C. 1822) is amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (3)— 17 (A) by inserting ‘‘and soring horses for 18 such purposes’’ after ‘‘horses in intrastate com- 19 merce’’; and 20 (B) by inserting ‘‘in many ways, including 21 by creating unfair competition, by deceiving the 22 spectating public and horse buyers, and by neg- 23 atively impacting horse sales’’ before the semi- 24 colon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 693 RFS (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 1 end; 2 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 3 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 4 (4) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraphs: 6 ‘‘(6) the Inspector General of the Department 7 of Agriculture has determined that the program 8 through which the Secretary inspects horses is inad- 9 equate for preventing soring; 10 ‘‘(7) historically, Tennessee Walking Horses, 11 Racking Horses, and Spotted Saddle Horses have 12 been subjected to soring; and 13 ‘‘(8) despite regulations in effect related to in- 14 spection for purposes of ensuring that horses are not 15 sore, violations of this Act continue to be prevalent 16 in the Tennessee Walking Horse, Racking Horse, 17 and Spotted Saddle Horse breeds.’’. 18 (c) HORSE SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS.—Section 4 of 19 the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1823) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘appointed’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘licensed’’; and 23 (B) by adding at the end the following new 24 sentences: ‘‘In the first instance in which the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 693 RFS Secretary determines that a horse is sore, the 1 Secretary shall disqualify the horse from being 2 shown or exhibited for a period of not less than 3 180 days. In the second instance in which the 4 Secretary determines that such horse is sore, 5 the Secretary shall disqualify the horse for a 6 period of not less than 1 year. In the third in- 7 stance in which the Secretary determines that 8 such horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify 9 the horse for a period of not less than 3 10 years.’’; 11 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘appointed’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘licensed’’; 13 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 14 following new subsection: 15 ‘‘(c)(1)(A) The Secretary shall prescribe by regula- 16 tion requirements for the Department of Agriculture to 17 license, train, assign, and oversee persons qualified to de- 18 tect and diagnose a horse which is sore or to otherwise 19 inspect horses at horse shows, horse exhibitions, or horse 20 sales or auctions, for hire by the management of such 21 events, for the purposes of enforcing this Act. 22 ‘‘(B) No person shall be issued a license under this 23 subsection unless such person is free from conflicts of in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 693 RFS terest, as defined by the Secretary in the regulations 1 issued under subparagraph (A). 2 ‘‘(C) If the Secretary determines that the perform- 3 ance of a person licensed in accordance with subparagraph 4 (A) is unsatisfactory, the Secretary may, after notice and 5 an opportunity for a hearing, revoke the license issued to 6 such person. 7 ‘‘(D) In issuing licenses under this subsection, the 8 Secretary shall give a preference to persons who are li- 9 censed or accredited veterinarians. 10 ‘‘(E) Licensure of a person in accordance with the 11 requirements prescribed under this subsection shall not be 12 construed as authorizing such person to conduct inspec- 13 tions in a manner other than that prescribed for inspec- 14 tions by the Secretary (or the Secretary’s representative) 15 under subsection (e). 16 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 30 days before the date on 17 which a horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auc- 18 tion begins, the management of such show, exhibition, or 19 sale or auction may notify the Secretary of the intent of 20 the management to hire a person or persons licensed 21 under this subsection and assigned by the Secretary to 22 conduct inspections at such show, exhibition, or sale or 23 auction. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 693 RFS ‘‘(B) After such notification, the Secretary shall as- 1 sign a person or persons licensed under this subsection 2 to conduct inspections at the horse show, horse exhibition, 3 or horse sale or auction. 4 ‘‘(3) A person licensed by the Secretary to conduct 5 inspections under this subsection shall issue a citation 6 with respect to any violation of this Act recorded during 7 an inspection and notify the Secretary of each such viola- 8 tion not later than 5 days after the date on which a cita- 9 tion was issued with respect to such violation.’’; and 10 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub- 11 section: 12 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall publish on the public website 13 of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the 14 Department of Agriculture, and update as frequently as 15 the Secretary determines is necessary, information on vio- 16 lations of this Act for the purposes of allowing the man- 17 agement of a horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale 18 or auction to determine if an individual is in violation of 19 this Act.’’. 20 (d) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 5 of the Horse Pro- 21 tection Act (15 U.S.C. 1824) is amended— 22 (1) in paragraph (2)— 23 (A) by striking ‘‘or (C) respecting’’ and in- 24 serting ‘‘(C), or (D) respecting’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 693 RFS (B) by striking ‘‘and (D)’’ and inserting 1 ‘‘(D) causing a horse to become sore or direct- 2 ing another person to cause a horse to become 3 sore for the purpose of showing, exhibiting, sell- 4 ing, auctioning, or offering for sale the horse in 5 any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale 6 or auction; and (E)’’; 7 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘appoint’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘hire’’; 9 (3) in paragraph (4)— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘appoint’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘hire’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘qualified’’; 13 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘appointed’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘hired’’; 15 (5) in paragraph (6)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘appointed’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘hired’’; and 18 (B) by inserting ‘‘that the horse is sore’’ 19 after ‘‘the Secretary’’; and 20 (6) by adding at the end the following new 21 paragraphs: 22 ‘‘(12) The use of an action device on any limb 23 of a Tennessee Walking Horse, a Racking Horse, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 693 RFS a Spotted Saddle Horse at a horse show, horse exhi- 1 bition, or horse sale or auction. 2 ‘‘(13) The use of a weighted shoe, pad, wedge, 3 hoof band, or other device or material at a horse 4 show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction 5 that— 6 ‘‘(A) is placed on, inserted in, or attached 7 to any limb of a Tennessee Walking Horse, a 8 Racking Horse, or a Spotted Saddle Horse; 9 ‘‘(B) is constructed to artificially alter the 10 gait of such a horse; and 11 ‘‘(C) is not strictly protective or thera- 12 peutic in nature.’’. 13 (e) VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES.—Section 6 of the 14 Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825) is amended— 15 (1) in subsection (a)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in 18 paragraph (2) of this subsection, any per- 19 son who knowingly violates section 5’’ and 20 inserting ‘‘Any person who knowingly vio- 21 lates section 5 or the regulations issued 22 under such section, including any violation 23 recorded during an inspection conducted in 24 accordance with section 4(c) or 4(e)’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 693 RFS (ii) by striking ‘‘more than $3,000, or 1 imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or 2 both.’’ and inserting ‘‘more than $5,000, 3 or imprisoned for not more than 3 years, 4 or both, for each such violation.’’; 5 (B) in paragraph (2)— 6 (i) by striking subparagraph (A); 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘(2)’’; and 8 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 9 (B) and (C) as paragraphs (2) and (3), re- 10 spectively, and moving the margins of such 11 paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to 12 the left; and 13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(4) Any person who knowingly fails to obey an order 16 of disqualification shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined 17 not more than $5,000 for each failure to obey such an 18 order, imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both.’’; 19 (2) in subsection (b)— 20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 21 (i) by striking ‘‘section 5 of this Act’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘section 5 or the regulations 23 issued under such section’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 693 RFS (ii) by striking ‘‘$2,000’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘$4,000’’; and 2 (B) by adding at the end the following new 3 paragraph: 4 ‘‘(5) Any person who fails to pay a licensed inspector 5 hired under section 4(c) shall, upon conviction thereof, be 6 fined not more than $4,000 for each such violation.’’; and 7 (3) in subsection (c)— 8 (A) in the first sentence— 9 (i) by inserting ‘‘, or otherwise partici- 10 pating in any horse show, horse exhibition, 11 or horse sale or auction’’ before ‘‘for a pe- 12 riod of not less than 1 year’’; and 13 (ii) by striking ‘‘any subsequent’’ and 14 inserting ‘‘the second’’; 15 (B) by inserting before ‘‘Any person who 16 knowingly fails’’ the following: ‘‘For the third 17 or any subsequent violation, a person may be 18 permanently disqualified by order of the Sec- 19 retary, after notice and an opportunity for a 20 hearing before the Secretary, from showing or 21 exhibiting any horse, judging or managing any 22 horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 23 auction, or otherwise participating in, including 24 financing the participation of other individuals 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 HR 693 RFS in, any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse 1 sale or auction (regardless of whether walking 2 horses are shown, exhibited, sold, auctioned, or 3 offered for sale at the horse show, horse exhi- 4 bition, or horse sale or auction).’’; and 5 (C) by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ each place it ap- 6 pears and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 7 (f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 9 Agriculture shall issue regulations to carry out the amend- 10 ments made by this section, including regulations pre- 11 scribing the requirements under subsection (c) of section 12 4 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1823(c)), as 13 amended by subsection (c)(3). 14 (g) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or 15 any amendment made by this Act, or the application of 16 a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 17 unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the 18 amendments made by this Act, and the application of the 19 provisions to any person or circumstance, shall not be af- 20 fected by the holding. 21 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 22 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 23 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 24 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H693.RFS H693 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 HR 693 RFS title [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]