Horse Protection Amendments Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1455 To amend the Horse Protection Act to provide increased protection for horses participating in shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 14, 2019 Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the Horse Protection Act to provide increased protection for horses participating in shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Horse Protection 4 Amendments Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 2 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 7 1821) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1455 IS (1) by striking the section designation and all 1 that follows through ‘‘requires:’’ in the matter pre- 2 ceding paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 ‘‘In this Act:’’; 5 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 6 and (4) as paragraphs (2), (4), (5), and (6), respec- 7 tively; 8 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 9 designated) the following: 10 ‘‘(1) HORSE INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION.—The 11 term ‘Horse Industry Organization’ means the orga- 12 nization established under section 4(c)(1)(A).’’; and 13 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re- 14 designated) the following: 15 ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVE INSPECTION.—The term ‘ob- 16 jective inspection’ means an inspection conducted 17 using only an inspection method based on a science- 18 based protocol (including swabbing or blood testing 19 protocol) that— 20 ‘‘(A) has been the subject of testing and is 21 capable of producing scientifically reliable and 22 reproducible results; 23 ‘‘(B) has been subjected to peer review; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(C) has received acceptance in the veteri- 1 nary or other applicable scientific community, 2 as determined by the Secretary.’’. 3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 4 Section 3 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 5 1822) is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 7 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(4) the Inspector General of the Department 11 of Agriculture has determined that the program 12 through which the Secretary inspects horses is not 13 adequate to ensure compliance with this Act;’’. 14 SEC. 4. INCREASING PROTECTIONS FOR HORSES PARTICI- 15 PATING IN HORSE SHOWS, EXHIBITIONS, 16 SALES, OR AUCTIONS. 17 (a) HORSE SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS.—Section 4 of 18 the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1823) is amended— 19 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 20 following: 21 ‘‘(a) DISQUALIFICATION OF HORSES.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The management of any 23 horse show or horse exhibition shall disqualify any 24 horse from being shown or exhibited if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(A) the horse is determined to be sore by 1 an objective inspection; or 2 ‘‘(B) the management has been notified 3 that the horse is sore by— 4 ‘‘(i) a person licensed under sub- 5 section (c)(3)(A); or 6 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary. 7 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF DISQUALIFICATION.—Any 8 horse that is determined to be sore by an objective 9 inspection shall be disqualified from being shown or 10 exhibited— 11 ‘‘(A) for a period of not less than 30 days 12 if it is the first determination; and 13 ‘‘(B) for a period of not less than 90 days 14 if it is a second or subsequent determination.’’; 15 (2) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘(b) The management’’ 17 and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON SALE, AUCTION, AND EXHI- 19 BITION.—The management’’; 20 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(c) HORSE INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION.— 23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 1 days after the date of enactment of the Horse 2 Protection Amendments Act of 2019, the Sec- 3 retary shall establish an organization, to be 4 known as the ‘Horse Industry Organization’ 5 (referred to in this subsection as ‘the Organiza- 6 tion’). 7 ‘‘(B) BOARD.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Organization 9 shall be governed by a board (referred to 10 in this subsection as ‘the Board’) con- 11 sisting of not more than 9 individuals, of 12 whom— 13 ‘‘(I) two shall be appointed by 14 the Commissioner of Agriculture for 15 the State of Tennessee; 16 ‘‘(II) two shall be appointed by 17 the Commissioner of Agriculture for 18 the State of Kentucky; 19 ‘‘(III) two shall— 20 ‘‘(aa) represent the Ten- 21 nessee Walking Horse industry; 22 and 23 ‘‘(bb) be appointed by the 24 members appointed under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1455 IS clauses (I) and (II), in accord- 1 ance with a process developed by 2 those members; and 3 ‘‘(IV) not more than three shall 4 be appointed by the members ap- 5 pointed under subclauses (I) through 6 (III). 7 ‘‘(ii) QUORUM.—Five members of the 8 Board shall constitute a quorum for the 9 transaction of business. 10 ‘‘(iii) BYLAWS.—The members of the 11 Board, in consultation with the Secretary, 12 shall develop bylaws and other policies to 13 operate the Organization, establish com- 14 mittees, and fill vacancies on the Board. 15 ‘‘(C) VACANCIES; PERIOD OF APPOINT- 16 MENT.— 17 ‘‘(i) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on the 18 Board— 19 ‘‘(I) shall not impair the author- 20 ity of the Board; and 21 ‘‘(II) shall be filled as soon as 22 practicable in the same manner as the 23 original appointment. 24 ‘‘(ii) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 1 provided in subclause (II), a member 2 of the Board shall be appointed for a 3 term of 4 years. 4 ‘‘(II) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.— 5 Of the members first appointed to the 6 Board, the members described in sub- 7 paragraph (B)(i)(III) shall be ap- 8 pointed for an initial term of 3 years. 9 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Organization 10 shall— 11 ‘‘(A) establish a formal affiliation with the 12 management of each horse sale, horse exhi- 13 bition, horse sale, and horse auction; 14 ‘‘(B) appoint inspectors to conduct inspec- 15 tions at each horse sale, horse exhibition, horse 16 sale, and horse auction; 17 ‘‘(C) identify and contract with equine vet- 18 erinary experts to advise the Board on— 19 ‘‘(i) objective scientific testing meth- 20 ods and procedures for objective inspec- 21 tions; and 22 ‘‘(ii) the certification of objective in- 23 spection results; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(D) establish licensing requirements 1 under paragraph (3); and 2 ‘‘(E) take any other action to ensure com- 3 pliance with this Act, as determined in coordi- 4 nation with the Secretary. 5 ‘‘(3) LICENSING REQUIREMENTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Organization 7 shall develop licensing requirements to submit 8 to the Secretary for licensing persons quali- 9 fied— 10 ‘‘(i) to detect and diagnose a horse 11 that is sore; or 12 ‘‘(ii) to otherwise inspect a horse for 13 the purpose of enforcing this Act. 14 ‘‘(B) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Require- 15 ments developed under subparagraph (A) shall 16 include the requirement that any person li- 17 censed by the Organization, and any member of 18 the immediate family of any person licensed by 19 the Organization, is free from a conflict of in- 20 terest by reason of any association or connec- 21 tion with the walking horse industry, including 22 through— 23 ‘‘(i) employment by, or the provision 24 of any service to, any show manager, train- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1455 IS er, owner, or exhibitor of a Tennessee 1 Walking horse, Spotted Saddle horse, or 2 Racking horse; and 3 ‘‘(ii) training, exhibiting, shoeing, 4 breeding, or selling a Tennessee Walking 5 horse, Spotted Saddle horse, or Racking 6 horse. 7 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After the members of 9 the Board described in subclauses (I) through 10 (III) of paragraph (1)(B)(i) have been ap- 11 pointed, the Secretary shall certify the Organi- 12 zation to train and license individuals, including 13 inspectors, as designated qualified persons in 14 accordance with section 11.7(b) of title 9, Code 15 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula- 16 tions). 17 ‘‘(B) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 18 Not later than 90 days after the date on which 19 the Secretary certifies the Organization under 20 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall revoke 21 the certification issued to any other horse in- 22 dustry organization under section 11.7 of title 23 9, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 24 regulations). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1455 IS ‘‘(5) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT EX- 1 EMPTION.—Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Federal Advi- 2 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply 3 to the Organization.’’; 4 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘(d) The man- 5 agement’’ and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(d) RECORDKEEPING.—The management’’; and 7 (5) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) For pur- 8 poses of’’ and inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(e) RIGHT OF INSPECTION.—For purposes of’’. 10 (b) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 5 of the Horse Pro- 11 tection Act (15 U.S.C. 1824) is amended— 12 (1) by striking the section designation and all 13 that follows through ‘‘The following’’ in the matter 14 preceding paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 5. PROHIBITED CONDUCT. 16 ‘‘The following’’; 17 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘appoint and 18 retain a person in accordance with section 4(c) of 19 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘have a formal affiliation 20 with the Horse Industry Organization’’; 21 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘appoint and 22 retain a qualified person in accordance with section 23 4(c) of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘have a formal affili- 24 ation with the Horse Industry Organization’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1455 IS (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘appointed 1 and retained a person in accordance with section 2 4(c) of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘a formal affiliation 3 with the Horse Industry Organization’’; and 4 (5) in paragraph (6)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘appointed and retained a 6 person in accordance with section 4(c) of this 7 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘a formal affiliation with 8 the Horse Industry Organization’’; and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘such person or the Sec- 10 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘a person licensed by the 11 Horse Industry Organization’’. 12 SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 14 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall issue regula- 15 tions to carry out the amendments made by this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1455.IS S1455 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS