AFTER Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2897 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to allow for the adoption or non-laboratory placement of certain animals used in Federal research, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. MAST, Mr. GAETZ, Ms. DEAN, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. TITUS, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to allow for the adoption or non-laboratory placement of certain animals used in Federal research, 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 ‘‘Animal Freedom from 4 Testing, Experiments, and Research Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘AFTER Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2897.IH H2897 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2897 IH SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN FEDERAL RE- 1 SEARCH. 2 Section 14 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 3 2144) is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 14. STANDARDS FOR FEDERAL FACILITIES. 5 ‘‘(a) LABORATORY ANIMAL FACILITIES AND EXHIBI- 6 TORS.—Any department, agency, or instrumentality of the 7 United States having laboratory animal facilities or exhib- 8 iting animals shall comply with the standards and other 9 requirements promulgated by the Secretary under sections 10 13(a), (f), (g), and (h). 11 ‘‘(b) ADOPTION AND NON-LABORATORY PLACE- 12 MENT.—Any department, agency, or instrumentality of 13 the United States operating as a Federal research facility 14 shall, not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 15 ment of this subsection, promulgate standards and other 16 requirements that, in the determination of the depart- 17 ment, agency, or instrumentality, facilitates the adoption 18 or non-laboratory placement of any animal of the facility 19 no longer needed for research and determined to be suit- 20 able for release to an animal rescue organization, animal 21 sanctuary, animal shelter, or individual. 22 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 ‘‘(1) ANIMAL RESCUE ORGANIZATION.—The 24 term ‘animal rescue organization’ means an organi- 25 zation— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2897.IH H2897 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2897 IH ‘‘(A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 2 from taxation under section 501(a) of such 3 Code; and 4 ‘‘(B) with the purpose of rescuing animals 5 that are unwanted, abandoned, or otherwise in 6 need of placement and finding permanent adop- 7 tive homes for such animals. 8 ‘‘(2) ANIMAL SANCTUARY.—The term ‘animal 9 sanctuary’ means an organization described in sec- 10 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 11 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 12 such Code that— 13 ‘‘(A) is registered with the Secretary; 14 ‘‘(B) operates a place of refuge— 15 ‘‘(i) where an unwanted, displaced, or 16 retired animal is provided care for the life- 17 time of such animal; and 18 ‘‘(ii) where an unescorted public visi- 19 tation of such an animal is not permitted; 20 ‘‘(C) does not engage in commercial trade 21 of such an animal; 22 ‘‘(D) does not breed such an animal; 23 ‘‘(E) does not permit direct contact be- 24 tween the public and such an animal; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2897.IH H2897 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2897 IH ‘‘(F) does not allow the use of such an ani- 1 mal for performance or exhibition purposes; and 2 ‘‘(G) does not conduct research that pains 3 or distresses such an animal. 4 ‘‘(3) ANIMAL SHELTER.—The term ‘animal 5 shelter’ means a facility that accepts or seizes ani- 6 mals to care for such animals, place such animals in 7 a permanent adoptive home, or carry out law en- 8 forcement purposes.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2897.IH H2897 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS