[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 37 (Thursday, March 2, 2017)] [Senate] [Pages S1579-S1582] STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Blumenthal, and Mr. Peters): S. 503. A bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make publicly available certain regulatory records relating to the administration of the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the use of an alternative depreciation system for taxpayers violating rules under the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance. Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act. This bill is a necessary step to restoring public information on animal cruelty that was removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's, USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, APHIS, website under the Trump administration. On February 3, 2017, APHIS removed information from its website related to oversight and enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, AWA, and Horse Protection Act, HPA, including animal inspection and licensing reports for more than 9,000 licensed facilities that use animals--facilities like commercial dog breeding operators, animal research labs, roadside zoos, and horse show participants. Since 2009, APHIS has made this information public to increase transparency and hold violators of these animal cruelty laws accountable. This information is now hidden from the public and is only available through a Freedom of Information Act Request, which can take months and sometimes even years for an agency to respond. The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act restores transparency by requiring APHIS to once again make AWA and HPA inspection reports accessible to the public. In my view, transparency is key when it comes to giving animal lovers and consumers information about whether their pets or the products they buy are the result of heartbreaking beginnings. These inspection reports also help law enforcement officials track and understand trends in animal welfare violations. Preventing animal cruelty starts with getting facts out to consumers. By shedding light on AWA and HPA violations, the Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act holds accountable puppy mill operators and other businesses that use animals for breeding, research, and testing. To ensure that taxpayers are not paying for entities that violate animal welfare laws, the Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act also prohibits businesses that are found to be in violation of the AWA or HPA from collecting certain tax benefits. Under current tax and accounting rules, companies can write off the value of breeding and working animals on their taxes using accelerated depreciation, as if those animals are machinery. They keep that preferential and valuable tax benefit, even if they violate animal cruelty laws. The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act puts an end to this practice and holds companies accountable for breaking the law by prohibiting businesses found to have violated AWA or HPA from claiming accelerated depreciation for tax purposes for five years. The Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act is a much needed step to restore transparency in animal cruelty and to hold companies accountable for violating the law. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 503 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act''. SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REGULATORY RECORDS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') shall maintain and promptly make available to the public in an online searchable database in a machine- readable format on the website of the Department of Agriculture information relating to the administration of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) and the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821 et seq.), including-- (1) the entirety of each report of any inspection conducted, and record of any enforcement action taken, under-- (A) either of those Acts; or (B) any regulation issued under those Acts; [[Page S1581]] (2) with respect to the Animal Welfare Act-- (A) the entirety of each annual report submitted by a research facility under section 13 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2143); and (B) the name, address, and license or registration number of each research facility, exhibitor, dealer, and other person or establishment-- (i) licensed by the Secretary under section 3 or 12 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2133, 2142); or (ii) registered with the Secretary under section 6 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2136); and (3) with respect to the Horse Protection Act, the name and address of-- (A) any person that is licensed to conduct any inspection under section 4(c) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 1823(c)); or (B) any organization or association that is licensed by the Department of Agriculture to promote horses through-- (i) the showing, exhibiting, sale, auction, or registry of horses; or (ii) the conduct of any activity that contributes to the advancement of horses. SEC. 3. USE OF ALTERNATIVE DEPRECIATION SYSTEM FOR TAXPAYERS VIOLATING CERTAIN ANIMAL PROTECTION RULES. (a) In General.--Section 168(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D), by inserting ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (E), and by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph: ``(F) any property placed in service by a disqualified taxpayer during an applicable period,''. (b) Definitions.--Section 168(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(8) Disqualified taxpayer; applicable period.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(F)-- ``(A) Disqualified taxpayer.-- ``(i) In general.--The term `disqualified taxpayer' means any taxpayer if such taxpayer-- ``(I) has been assessed a civil penalty under section 19(b) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(b)) or section 6(b) of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(b)) and either the period for seeking judicial review of the final agency action has lapsed or there has been a final judgment with respect to an appeal of such assessment, or ``(II) has been convicted under section 19(d) of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2149(d)) or section 6(a) of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(a)) and there is a final judgment with respect to such conviction. ``(ii) Aggregation rules.--All persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as one taxpayer for purposes of this subparagraph. ``(B) Applicable period.--The term `applicable period' means, with respect to any violation described in subparagraph (A), the 5-taxable year period beginning with the taxable year in which the period for seeking judicial review of a civil penalty described in subparagraph (A)(i) has lapsed or in which there has been a final judgment entered with respect to the violation, whichever is earlier.''. (c) Conforming Amendment.--The last sentence of section 179(d)(1) is amended by inserting ``or any property placed in service by a disqualified taxpayer (as defined in section 168(g)(8)(A)) during an applicable period (as defined in section 168(g)(8)(B))'' after ``section 50(b)''. (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to property placed in service in taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this section. ______