FIGHT Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1529 To amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide for greater protection of roosters, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Animal Welfare Act to provide for greater protection of roosters, 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 ‘‘Fighting Inhumane 4 Gambling and High-risk Trafficking Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘FIGHT Act of 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. ANIMAL FIGHTING. 7 (a) DEFINITION OF ROOSTER.—Section 2 of the Ani- 8 mal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2132) is amended by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1529 IS ‘‘(p) The term ‘rooster’ means any male member of 1 Gallus Domesticus species that is older than 6 months.’’. 2 (b) ANIMAL FIGHTING VENTURE SIMULCASTING 3 PROHIBITED.—Section 26 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 4 U.S.C. 2156) is amended— 5 (1) by striking the section designation and 6 header and all that follows through ‘‘It shall be un- 7 lawful’’ in subsection (a)(2) and inserting the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘SEC. 26. SPONSORING OR EXHIBITING AN ANIMAL IN, AT- 10 TENDING, CAUSING A MINOR TO ATTEND, OR 11 SIMULCASTING AN ANIMAL FIGHTING VEN- 12 TURE. 13 ‘‘(a) SPONSORING OR EXHIBITING.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 15 person to knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal in 16 an animal fighting venture. 17 ‘‘(2) ATTENDING OR CAUSING AN INDIVIDUAL 18 WHO HAS NOT ATTAINED THE AGE OF 16 TO AT- 19 TEND.—It shall be unlawful’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(3) ANIMAL VENTURE SIMULCASTING.—It 23 shall be unlawful for any person to transmit or re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1529 IS ceive in any State simulcasting of an animal fighting 1 venture.’’. 2 (c) USE OF POSTAL SERVICE OR OTHER INTER- 3 STATE INSTRUMENTALITY TO TRANSPORT ROOSTERS.— 4 Section 26(c) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 5 2156(c)) is amended— 6 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ‘‘OR 7 TO TRANSPORT ROOSTERS’’ after ‘‘VENTURE’’; 8 (2) by striking ‘‘speech for purposes of adver- 9 tising’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘speech— 10 ‘‘(1) for purposes of advertising’’; 11 (3) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 12 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 13 and 14 (4) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(2) to transport a rooster.’’. 16 (d) CIVIL CITIZEN SUITS; SEIZURE.—Section 26(e) 17 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2156(e)) is amend- 18 ed— 19 (1) by striking the subsection designation and 20 heading and all that follows through ‘‘The Secretary 21 or any other person authorized by him’’ in the first 22 sentence and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(e) INVESTIGATIONS; CIVIL CITIZEN SUITS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1529 IS ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATION OF VIOLATIONS BY SEC- 1 RETARY; ASSISTANCE BY OTHER FEDERAL AGEN- 2 CIES; ISSUANCE OF SEARCH WARRANT; FORFEITURE; 3 COST RECOVERABLE IN FORFEITURE OR CIVIL AC- 4 TION.—The Secretary, or any other person author- 5 ized by the Secretary,’’; and 6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(2) CIVIL CITIZEN SUITS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person may com- 9 mence a civil suit in a district court of the 10 United States on their own behalf to enjoin any 11 person who is alleged to be in violation of any 12 provision of this section. 13 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF FINE.—For any person 14 found to have violated a provision of this sec- 15 tion in any suit brought under subparagraph 16 (A), the district court may issue a fine in an 17 amount not greater than $5,000 for each viola- 18 tion. 19 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT.—A person seeking to 20 commence a civil suit under subparagraph (A) 21 shall, at least 60 days before commencing the 22 suit, submit to the Secretary and to the alleged 23 violator written notice of the alleged violation of 24 a provision of this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1529 IS ‘‘(D) LIMITATION.—No action may be 1 commenced under subparagraph (A)— 2 ‘‘(i) if the Secretary has commenced 3 an action against the same person to im- 4 pose a penalty pursuant to paragraph (1) 5 for the same alleged violation; or 6 ‘‘(ii) if the United States has com- 7 menced, and is diligently prosecuting, a 8 criminal action against the same person in 9 a State or Federal court to redress the 10 same alleged violation. 11 ‘‘(E) JURISDICTION.—A suit under this 12 paragraph may be brought in the judicial dis- 13 trict in which the alleged violation occurred. 14 ‘‘(F) INTERVENTION.—The Attorney Gen- 15 eral, at the request of the Secretary, may inter- 16 vene on behalf of the United States as a matter 17 of right in any civil suit brought under subpara- 18 graph (A). 19 ‘‘(G) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—The court, in 20 issuing any final order in any suit brought 21 under subparagraph (A), may award costs of 22 litigation (including reasonable attorney and ex- 23 pert witness fees) to any party, whenever the 24 court determines such an award is appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1529 IS ‘‘(3) SEIZURE.—Whoever is found, pursuant to 1 an investigation under paragraph (1), to have vio- 2 lated subsection (a)(1) shall, in addition to the pen- 3 alties applicable under paragraph (1), be subject to 4 seizure of all real property, including any right, title, 5 and interest (including any leasehold interest) in the 6 whole of any lot or tract of land and any appur- 7 tenances or improvements, that is used, or intended 8 to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to 9 facilitate the commission of, a violation of subsection 10 (a)(1).’’. 11 (e) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.— 12 (1) Section 26(h) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 13 U.S.C. 2156(h)) is amended to read as follows: 14 ‘‘(h) CONFLICT WITH STATE LAW.—The provisions 15 of this Act shall not supersede or otherwise invalidate any 16 such State, local, or municipal legislation or ordinance re- 17 lating to animal fighting ventures except in case of a direct 18 and irreconcilable conflict between any requirements 19 thereunder and this Act or any rule, regulation, or stand- 20 ard hereunder.’’. 21 (2) Section 3001(a) of title 39, United States 22 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 2156),’’ 23 before ‘‘is nonmailable’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:36 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1529.IS S1529 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB