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Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2025
To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of one another, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill prohibits the interstate transportation of horses in motor vehicles with two or more stacked levels. The prohibition applies to moving horses from one state to another, between D.C. and states, or involving U.S. territories. Any person who knowingly violates this prohibition faces civil penalties ranging from $100 to $500 per horse transported in violation. The bill treats each horse transported improperly as a separate violation, so penalties can accumulate when multiple horses are involved. Additionally, the bill preserves the right to pursue civil actions related to these violations.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN)
24 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA)
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA)
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA)
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL)
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA)
- Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-37] (D-TX)
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA)
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] (D-CA)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA)
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA)
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME)
- Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI)
- Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] (D-IL)
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA)
- Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] (D-IL)
- Rep. Stanton, Greg [D-AZ-4] (D-AZ)
- Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11] (D-MI)
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI)
- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV)
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI)
Actions (3)
- May 30, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. · house
- May 29, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- May 29, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 29, 2025
Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Titus, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Norton, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Brownley, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Casten, and Mr. Carbajal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of one another, 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 “Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF HORSES.
Section 80502 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (c), by striking “This section does not” and inserting “Subsections (a) and (b) shall not”;
(2) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e);
(3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
“(d) Transportation of Horses.—
“(1) Prohibition.—No person may transport, or cause to be transported, a horse from a place in a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of the United States through or to a place in another State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of the United States in a motor vehicle containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of each other.
“(2) Motor vehicle defined.—In this subsection, the term ‘motor vehicle’—
“(A) means a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public highways; and
“(B) does not include a vehicle operated exclusively on a rail or rails.”; and
(4) in subsection (e), as redesignated—
(A) by striking “A rail carrier” and inserting the following:
“(1) In general.—A rail carrier”;
(B) by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (a) or (b)”; and
(C) by striking “On learning” and inserting the following:
“(2) Transportation of horses in multilevel trailer.—
“(A) Civil penalty.—A person that knowingly violates subsection (d) is liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of at least $100, but not more than $500, for each violation. A separate violation of subsection (d) occurs for each horse that is transported, or caused to be transported, in violation of subsection (d).
“(B) Relationship to other laws.—The penalty imposed under subparagraph (A) shall be in addition to any penalty or remedy available under any other law or common law.
“(3) Civil action.—On learning”. <all>
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