A bill to amend the Animal Welfare Act to modify the definition of "exhibitor".

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3666) to amend the Animal Welfare Act to modify the definition of ``exhibitor''.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, S. 3666, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

S. 3666 is a simple regulatory relief measure which has been proposed to modify the definition of the term ``exhibitor'' under the Federal Animal Welfare Act. It has passed the Senate by unanimous consent and, in the last hours of the 112th Congress, I urge that it likewise be passed by the House of Representatives.

The legislation would relieve private pet owners who might make a few dollars on the side with their pets but who do not derive a substantial portion of their income from such activities from the licensure requirements under the Federal Animal Welfare Act.

An example where this might be an issue is in hiring somebody to serve as an extra in a film. These are the people who appear in the background of film scenes and may work on the film set for a couple of hours at a time or a day or two at the most. If that person has their pet with them during the filming, the current interpretation of the Animal Welfare Act is that the extra would be designated an animal exhibitor under Federal law and must therefore be licensed, inspected, and comply with all the administrative and record-keeping requirements of the act. This was not what the law intended nor is the administration of such a requirement a necessary or useful allocation of scarce Federal resources.

The Federal Animal Welfare Act was intended to regulate businesses, not private citizens. There are many examples across the government of regulatory overreach. While I regret that we have not been able to address all of those in the 112th Congress, certainly this is one we can agree needs fixing and should be fixed.

I urge my colleagues to support the legislation and reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I want to thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his efforts with our colleagues in the Senate to pass this measure, S. 3666.

As was stated, this is a measure that involves common sense, and it attempts to relieve burdensome paperwork that frankly has no place under the current scheme in which movies are made in this country that require, without the relief of this measure, them to be included under the Federal Animal Welfare Act.

As was stated, movies and television shows often use animals as extras. We're used to seeing that. It's part of the way these movies are made. This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to clarify that when pets are owned by individual citizens who are acting in that movie or in that television show that they should not be regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture when it comes to these animals being used as extras in films.

These animals should not be captured under the Animal Welfare Act regulations. The USDA, as we know, is spread pretty thin. It is using scarce resources to regulate personal pets, which now is required under the current law that this legislation will relieve that burden from. We think that the USDA should focus its resources on more cost-effective measures rather than regulating individual personal pets that are used in these movies or in these television shows as--the term of art is ``animal actors''; animals that play a key movie or television role will not be affected by this legislation. They will continue to be regulated by the Animal Welfare Act. This is, as I said at the outset, a commonsense regulatory relief of burdensome paperwork. I would ask my colleagues to support this measure.

S. 3666 is, I think, a well-thought-out measure. I want to thank, again, the gentleman from Arkansas and the committee for their efforts on this measure and ask their support for the bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. 3666, which was submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.