RAWR Act

Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act of 2018 or the RAWR Act

This bill amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize Department of State rewards for a person who assists in the arrest or conviction of wildlife traffickers. Wildlife trafficking is the poaching or other illegal taking of protected or managed species and the illegal trade in wildlife and their related parts and products.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6197 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6197

    To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to 
    authorize rewards for thwarting wildlife trafficking linked to 
         transnational organized crime, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 2018

   Mr. Donovan (for himself and Mr. Castro of Texas) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to 
    authorize rewards for thwarting wildlife trafficking linked to 
         transnational organized crime, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act of 
2018'' or the ``RAWR Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Wildlife trafficking is a major transnational crime 
        that is estimated to generate over $10 billion a year in 
        illegal profits and which is increasingly perpetrated by 
        organized, sophisticated criminal enterprises, including known 
        terrorist organizations.
            (2) Wildlife trafficking not only threatens endangered 
        species worldwide, but also jeopardizes local security, spreads 
        disease, undermines rule of law, fuels corruption, and damages 
        economic development.
            (3) Combating wildlife trafficking requires a coordinated 
        and sustained approach at the global, regional, national, and 
        local levels.
            (4) Congress stated in the Eliminate, Neutralize, and 
        Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 that it is the policy 
        of the United States to take immediate actions to stop the 
        illegal global trade in wildlife and wildlife products and 
        associated transnational organized crime.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
Department of State's rewards program is a powerful tool in combating 
sophisticated international crime and that the Department of State and 
Federal law enforcement should work in concert to offer rewards that 
target wildlife traffickers.

SEC. 3. REWARDS FOR JUSTICE.

    Subparagraph (B) of section 36(k)(5) of the State Department Basic 
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(k)(5)) is amended by inserting 
``wildlife trafficking (as defined by section 2(12) of the Eliminate, 
Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 
7601(12); Public Law 114-231)) and'' after ``includes''.
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