To find out the status of these or any other bills, contact the congressional bill status line at (202) 225-1772. This information is also available on the World Wide Web at http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d105query.html (105th Congress) or http://thomas.loc.gov/d104/d104query.html (104th Congress).
| H.R. 1354 | H.R. 1547 | H.R. 1404 | H.R. 1202 | S. 555 |
| S. 428 | H.R. 490 | S. 267 | H.R. 74 |
Introduced March 29, 1995, by Donald Payne (D-NJ) and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, as well as the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. This act may be cited as the "Agriculture Modernization Act of 1995."
Of the functions that the Secretary of Agriculture exercised before the effective date of this act (including all related functions of any officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture), there are transferred to the Secretary of Commerce all functions of: the Consolidated Farm Service Agency for administration through the agribusiness block grant program established under title II, except as otherwise provided in this section; the Agricultural Research Service; the Economic Research Service; the National Agricultural Statistics Service; the Rural Housing and Community Development Service; the Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service; the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; the Foreign Agricultural Service, except as otherwise provided in this section; and all other offices, administrations, agencies, institutes, units, organizational entities, or components of the Department of Agriculture that are not specifically transferred by this section.
There are transferred to the Secretary of Health and Human Services all functions of the Food and Consumer Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Federal Grain Inspection Service, and the Packers and Stockyards Administration. The Secretary of the Interior shall administer all functions of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Forest Service, and the conservation reserve and agricultural conservation programs. The Secretary of State will oversee all functions carried out under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.). The Secretary of the Treasury will administer all functions relating to agricultural credit programs, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will carry out all functions relating to crop insurance.
The last proviso of the matter under the heading "Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service" of title I of the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1986 (Public Law 100-202; 101 Stat. 1329-331; 7 U.S.C. 426c) is amended by striking ": Provided further, That hereafter," and all that follows through "Animal Damage Control activities."
This act and the amendments made by this act shall become effective on October 1, 1996.
Introduced May 2, 1995, by Robert G. Torricelli (D-NJ) and referred jointly to the Committees on Agriculture and National Security. This act may be cited as the "Animal Experimentation Right to Know Act."
The Congress finds that the Federal Government spends over $5 billion annually on experiments and tests involving animals; reports filed by research facilities with the U.S. Department of Agriculture fail to provide comprehensive annual profiles of laboratory animal use in the United States; the Department of Defense conducts almost $200 million worth of animal testing each year and has not provided detailed information on its experimentation programs and; military researchers receive Federal funding for animal research without being subject to the same review process as other researchers in the scientific community.
Section 3 of this act outlines additional elements of the reporting requirements of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) including: where animals were obtained from, an accurate count of all animals of all species used in animal experimentation testing, including rats, mice, and birds; information regarding the general purpose of the animal experimentation, including whether the animals were used in research, testing, or education. In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture shall develop a system for releasing to the public information on where animals used in research are obtained.
Section 4 amends the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2143) to include requirements for the Department of Defense to provide Congress with an indepth annual report profiling animal research conducted at each Department research facility. To the greatest extent possible the report should be filed as an unclassified document. The report shall include the following: initiatives to promote alternative research methods that would phase out and reduce the use of animals; procedures to prevent unintended duplication; and total cost of animal-based research in comparison to other forms of biological research. The Secretary of Defense shall appoint an ombudsman for animal issues at each research facility of the Department of Defense. This individual would act on any complaints and concerns about the facility's animal care and use program. The Secretary of Defense may submit a waiver form in place of any information regarding animal tests that the Secretary of Defense determines cannot be publicly disclosed for reasons of national security.
An 11-member panel of biomedical and animal care experts shall be appointed by the President to investigate the animal use and care programs of the Department of Defense. The panel shall examine the ethics and regulation of the number and types of animal experiments conducted by the Department of Defense.
Introduced April 5, 1995, by Nita Lowey (D-NY) and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
It is the policy of the United States to end the needless maiming and suffering inflicted upon animals through the use of steel jaw leghold traps by prohibiting the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of such traps, and of articles of fur from animals that were trapped in such traps.
The Secretary [of the Interior] shall pay an amount equal to half of the fine paid to any person who furnishes information which leads to a conviction of a criminal violation of any provision of this act or any regulation issued thereunder. Any officer or employee of the United States or of any State or local government who furnishes information or renders service in the performance of his/her official duties is not eligible for payment under this section.
Introduced March 10, 1995, by George Brown (D-CA) and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This act may be cited as the "Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 1995."
Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly transfers, transports, or possesses a confined exotic animal, for the purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Introduced March 14 (legislative day, March 6), 1995, by Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. This act may be cited as the "Health Professions Education Consolidation and Reauthorization Act of 1995."
Section 406 of this act would reduce the amount of money available for construction of regional centers for research on primates from $5 million to $2.5 million.
Introduced February 16, 1995, by William Roth (R-DE) and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. This act may be cited as the "Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act."
The purposes of this act are to: recognize the vital contribution of wildlife resources to the United States; to provide that wildlife conservation receive equal consideration and be coordinated with other features of water resources development programs through the effectual and harmonious planning, development, maintenance, and coordination of wildlife conservation and rehabilitation.
The Secretary of the Interior may provide assistance to, and cooperate with, Federal, State, and public or private agencies and organizations in: the development, protection, rearing, and stocking of all species of wildlife, wildlife resources, and the habitat of wildlife; controlling losses of wildlife, wildlife resources, and the habitat of wildlife from disease or other causes; minimizing damage from overabundant species; providing public shooting and fishing areas, including easements across public land for access to the land; and carrying out other measures necessary to carry out this act.
Introduced January 11, 1995, by Lamar Smith (R-TX) and referred to the Committee on Resources. This act may be cited as the "Farm, Ranch, and Homestead Protection Act of 1995."
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)) is amended by placing a moratorium on the determination of endangered and threatened species, and designation of critical habitat beginning on the date of enactment of this paragraph, and ending on the subsequent reauthorization of this act. If the Secretary [of the Interior] designates habitat of a species to be critical habitat, and if the habitat is located on property that is owned by a person or entity other than the Federal Government., on request of the person or entity, the Secretary shall compensate the person or entity for any loss in market value of the land that results from the designation. Related bills: S. 191, H.R. 571, S.239.
Introduced January 24, 1995, by Ted Stevens (R-AK) and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This act may be cited as the "Fisheries Act of 1995."
The United States, or any agency or official acting on behalf of the United States, may not enter into any international agreement with respect to the conservation and management of living marine resources or the use of the high seas by fishing vessels that would prevent full implementation of the global moratorium on large-scale driftnet fishing on the high seas, as such moratorium is expressed in Resolution 46/215 of the United Nations General Assembly.
The President shall utilize appropriate assets of the Department of Defense, the United States Coast Guard, and other Federal agencies to detect, monitor, and prevent violations of the United Nations moratorium on large-scale driftnet fishing on the high seas for all fisheries under the jurisdiction of the United States and, in the case of fisheries not under the jurisdiction of the United States, to the fullest extent permitted under international law.
Introduced January 4, 1995, by Porter Goss (R-FL) and referred to the Committee on Resources. This act may be cited as the "Marine Mammal Capture Reform Act of 1995."
Subsection (d) of section 104 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1374) is amended by adding the following: the Secretary may not issue a permit under subsection (c)(2) for the taking of any marine mammal from protected State waters for the purpose of public display, if issuance of the permit would be inconsistent with State law; and the Governor of the State in which the taking would occur submits to the Secretary notice of State disapproval of the permit, including an explanation of the reasons for the disapproval, not later than 30 days after the date of publication of notice of application for the permit.
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