CORRECTION OF SECTION 6 OF ACT OF AUGUST 30, 1890

FEBRUARY 26, 1930.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. HAUGEN, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. J. Res. 153]

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (H. J. Res. 153) to correct section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890, as amended by section 2 of the act of June 28, 1926, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass. The joint resolution reported herewith is as follows:

[H. J. Res. 153, Seventy-first Congress, Second Session]

JOINT RESOLUTION To correct section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890, as amended by section 2 of the act of June 28, 1926

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890 (United States Code, page 631, section 104), as amended by section 2 of the act of June 28, 1926 (United States Code, Supplement III, page 167, section 104), down to the word "Provided" in line 4 thereof, be, and the same is hereby, amended by striking out the word "meat" and the comma thereafter, in the first line, and by striking out the word "importation" in the fourth line and substituting in lieu thereof the word "exportation," so that so much of said section as is hereby amended shall read as follows:

"That the importation of cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, and swine, which are diseased or infected with any disease, or which shall have been exposed to such infection within sixty days next before their exportation, is hereby prohibited."

A similar joint resolution, S. J. Res. 21, passed the Senate in the Seventieth Congress and was reported to the House by this committee.

The joint resolution was introduced at the request of the Department of Agriculture. The letter of Mr. R. W. Dunlap, Acting Secretary, Department of Agriculture, follows:

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

Hon. GILBERT N. HAUGEN,
Chairman Committee on Agriculture,

Washington, D. C., December 7, 1929.

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. HAUGEN: The inclosed draft of a proposed joint resolution, correcting two errors in section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890, as amended by section 2 of the act of June 28, 1926, is submitted for your consideration.

You will doubtless recall that during the Seventieth Congress legislation for almost the identical purpose now indicated was covered by S. J. Res. 21 of that Congress, which was introduced on December 9, 1927; reported favorably from the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, with Senate Report 41, on January 9, 1928; passed by the Senate February 6, 1928; and reported favorably by the House Committee on Agriculture, with House Report 2302, on January 30, 1929, but, on account of the pressure of business in the closing days of the session, failed of final enactment. The inclosed resolution is practically identical with S. J. Res. 21 of the Seventieth Congress, except that the code references have been corrected.

The first portion of section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890, before the section was amended by the act of June 28, 1926, so as to permit the importation into Texas of Mexican cattle which had been freed of ticks, was worded as follows:

"That the importation of neat cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, and swine, which are diseased or infected with any disease, or which shall have been exposed to such infection within sixty days next before their exportation, is hereby prohibited."

When the amendment had been passed by Congress and the bill incorporating the same was submitted to the President and comment of this department was requested thereon, it was found that the word "neat," in the first line, had been changed to "meat," followed by a comma, and "exportation," in the last line, had been changed to "importation." Objection was not made at that time, because it was so desirable to secure the legislation for which the amendment was made, and this fact was pointed out to the President and the promise given that an attempt would be made to have these errors corrected.

The word "neat", as originally contained in the section, means "bovine" and describes a kind of cattle. By the change of this word to "meat" followed by a comma, which must have been made without a full knowledge of the meaning of the original word, a new kind of commodity was introduced, the regulation of which is quite foreign to the purpose of the section and practically impossible of fulfillment, since there is really no way to determine whether or not "meat" offered for import has been "exposed" to disease. The fact is that there is no real significance to the word "neat" as defining cattle, for “bovine" cattle really connotes nothing more than just "cattle". The amendment as now drawn, therefore, omits the word "meat" and substitutes nothing in its stead, whereas the previous corrective amendment changed the word "meat" to "neat".

The change of the word "exportation" to "importation" was particularly unfortunate. It is very often impossible for this department, which is intrusted with the administration of the law, to ascertain whether or not particular imported animals have been exposed to disease prior to their importation. Whether they actually have been so exposed depends, of course, on the conditions under which they have been kept in the foreign country, about which the department can only have a general knowledge. Under the law as originally worded, however, it was possible to require prospective importers of animals to obtain certificates of veterinary officers of the country from which the animals were shipped, and in which they must have beeen kept for 60 days preceding the date of movement, to the effect that the animals were not diseased at the time of exportation and that such country had been free of certain of the more virulent diseases of animals during that period. If the country were free of those diseases during such period, it followed that the animals could not have been exposed. Most of the diseases to which animals are subject develop within 60 days after exposure of the animals thereto. As a practical matter, therefore, animals which had been exposed to such diseases prior to this 60-day period would have become visibly diseased at the time of intended exportation and would not be exported, for they

would not be adapted to the changed language of the section because such a large and varying portion of the 60-day period preceding the date of importationfrequently as much as six weeks-is consumed in transporting the animals to the United States that it is impossible with any degree of uniformity to prescribe what portion of the period shall be covered by the foreign veterinary officers' certificate.

The symptoms of some animal diseases do not become visible until after 60 days from the time of exposure thereto. Under the scheme in use prior to the amendment, such diseases almost invariably became manifest prior to the arrival of the animals in the United States and they were denied entry. While most species of imported animals are quarantined after their arrival here and these diseases probably would become manifest during the quarantine period even under the present language of the section, it is obvious that better protection can be afforded the animals of this country by keeping the diseased animals out than by relying entirely upon the quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease.

Again, with the 60-day period antedating the date of exportation, thus resulting in the likelihood that animals previously exposed to disease would have developed that disease prior to exportation, the exporter, knowing that their shipment to the United States would be useless, would be saved the cost of transportation. The fact is that the changes thus mistakenly made present difficulties almost insurmountable either to proper observance or effective enforcement of the law as thus amended, and it is the urgent desire of the Department of Agriculture that the passage of this legislation at the coming session of Congress be expedited, so that the mistakes referred to may be corrected.

Sincerely yours,

R. W. Dunlap, Acting Secretary.

In compliance with paragraph 2a of Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives. Existing law proposed to be omitted is inclosed in black brackets; new matter is printed in Italics; existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman.

SEC. 6. That the importation of [meat,] cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, and swine, which are diseased or infected with any disease, or which shall have been exposed to such infection within sixty days next before their [importation,] exportation, is hereby prohibited: Provided, That the Secretary of Agriculture within his discretion and under such regulations as he may prescribe, is authorized to permit the admission from Mexico into the State of Texas of cattle which have been infested with or exposed to ticks upon being freed therefrom. Any person who shall knowingly violate the foregoing provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, and any vessel or vehicle used in such unlawful importation within the knowledge of the master or owner of such vessel or vehicle that such importation is diseased or has been exposed to infection as herein described, shall be forfeited to the United States.