HEART Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1228 To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to civil forfeitures relating to certain seized animals. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Ms. JUDY CHU of California (for herself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to civil forfeitures relating to certain seized animals. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Extract Animals 4 from Red Tape Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HEART Act of 5 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. REDUCED NOTICE PERIOD. 7 (a) NOTICE TIMING FOR CASES OF ANIMAL SEI- 8 ZURE.—Section 983(a)(1)(A) of title 18, United States 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1228.IH H1228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1228 IH Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 1 clause: 2 ‘‘(vi) With respect to an animal seized 3 under section 26 of the Animal Welfare 4 Act or under section 1955 of this title, 5 clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and (v), shall be ap- 6 plied by substituting ‘30-days’ for ‘60- 7 days’.’’. 8 (b) NOTICE PROCEDURES FOR CASES OF ANIMAL 9 SEIZURE.—Section 983(a)(1) of title 18, United States 10 Code, as amended by this Act, is amended— 11 (1) in subparagraph (B) by inserting ‘‘and with 12 respect to an animal seized under section 26 of the 13 Animal Welfare Act or section 1955 of this title, 14 that the delay is warranted in light of the criteria 15 in subparagraph (G)’’ after ‘‘if the official deter- 16 mines that the conditions in subparagraph (D) are 17 present,’’; 18 (2) in subparagraph (C) by inserting ‘‘and with 19 respect to an animal seized under section 26 of the 20 Animal Welfare Act or section 1955 of this title, 21 that the delay is warranted in light of the criteria 22 in subparagraph (G)’’ after ‘‘that the conditions in 23 subparagraph (D) are present,’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1228.IH H1228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1228 IH (3) by adding after subparagraph (F), the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(G) With respect to an animal seized 3 under section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act or 4 section 1955 of this title, the period for sending 5 notice under this paragraph may be extended 6 only after consideration of the following: 7 ‘‘(i) The cost to the government of 8 caring and providing shelter for the ani- 9 mal. 10 ‘‘(ii) The psychological and physical 11 health of the animal and the effect the 12 delay will have on its rehabilitation. 13 ‘‘(iii) Any increased risk that the 14 delay could necessitate the euthanasia of 15 the animal.’’. 16 SEC. 3. SEIZURES OF ANIMALS. 17 (a) PAYMENT FOR CERTAIN COSTS.—Section 18 524(c)(1) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 19 adding after subparagraph (I), the following: 20 ‘‘(J) payment for the transportation, shel- 21 ter, care, veterinary services, and where appro- 22 priate, humane euthanasia of an animal seized 23 under section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act or 24 under section 1955 of title 18.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1228.IH H1228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1228 IH (b) REIMBURSEMENT AND PROPORTIONALITY.—Sec- 1 tion 983(h) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 2 by adding at the end, the following: 3 ‘‘(4) In any civil forfeiture proceeding in which 4 the Government prevails, the court shall require the 5 claimant, to reimburse the United States for any ac- 6 tual and reasonable costs to the government for the 7 transportation, shelter, care, veterinary services, or 8 where appropriate, humane euthanasia of an animal 9 that was the subject of the proceeding. The reim- 10 bursement shall be credited to the agency or fund 11 that was used to pay the costs being reimbursed. 12 ‘‘(5) In any civil forfeiture proceeding in which 13 an animal is subject of the proceeding, the court 14 may reduce the size of a reimbursement based on 15 any of the following factors: 16 ‘‘(A) The seriousness of the offense. 17 ‘‘(B) The culpability of the claimant. 18 ‘‘(C) The claimant’s prior record. 19 ‘‘(D) The claimant’s financial condition 20 and need to support a family. 21 ‘‘(E) The purpose of the forfeiture statute 22 in question.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Feb 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1228.IH H1228 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS