PUPPERS Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1155 To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from conducting medical research causing significant pain or distress to dogs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Ms. TITUS (for herself, Mr. MAST, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. ZELDIN, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. COHEN, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. TUR- NER, Mr. STAUBER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. POSEY, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. KATKO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CRIST, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. SOTO, Ms. BASS, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. WILD, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HURD of Texas, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. ESTES, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. LAMB, Mr. EVANS, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. TONKO, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Ms. JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs from conducting medical re- search causing significant pain or distress to dogs. 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 01:50 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1155.IH H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1155 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Unkind and 2 Painful Procedures and Experiments on Respected Spe- 3 cies Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘PUPPERS Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 5 FAIRS MEDICAL RESEARCH CAUSING SIG- 6 NIFICANT PAIN OR DISTRESS TO DOGS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7303 of title 38, United 8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing new subsection: 10 ‘‘(e)(1) In carrying out research, the Secretary may 11 not purchase, breed, transport, house, feed, maintain, dis- 12 pose of, or experiment on dogs as part of the conduct of 13 any study that causes significant pain or distress. 14 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘study that causes 15 significant pain or distress’— 16 ‘‘(A) includes any study classified to pain cat- 17 egory D or E by the Department of Agriculture; and 18 ‘‘(B) does not include any physical exam, train- 19 ing program, or study relating to service or working 20 dogs.’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 22 subsection (a) shall take effect 90 days after the date of 23 enactment of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1155.IH H1155 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS