November 13, 2006

WASHINGTON - Monday afternoon the House approved and sent to the President the Senate version of legislation proposed in the House by Rep. Tom Petri against animal rights extremists. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (S. 3880) will strengthen penalties against people who interfere with animal enterprises.

Petri says that some animal rights activists advance their cause through "direct action," which includes death threats, vandalism, animal releases and bombings. Their actions are calculated aggressively to intimidate and harass those identified as targets. Traditional targets include research and biomedical laboratories, fur farms and restaurants. More recently, these extremists have also turned to targeting companies and individuals that do business with or have a financial interest in an animal enterprise.

During the debate on the bill on the House floor, Petri called attention to incidents in Wisconsin.

"In my own state of Wisconsin, mink farmers and biomedical researchers have experienced their own share of intimidation, harassment, and vandalism at the hands of animal rights extremists. Farmers have had their properties raided, causing thousands of dollars of damage," Petri told the other representatives.

"Scientists around the state have received in the mail at their homes razor blades with letters stating they were laced with the AIDS virus. Personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers and photographs of researchers have been posted on extremists' Web sites. Many of these same scientists report death threats and home visits by animal rights extremists who through their terrorism have a goal of driving the scientists out of their research-- research which has and will continue to improve human health and quality of life," he said.

Petri's proposal is designed to provide federal authorities with better tools to help prevent, investigate and prosecute this form of intimidation. Enactment of this legislation will enhance the ability of law enforcement and the Justice Department to protect law-abiding American citizens from violence and the threat of violence posed by animal rights extremists.

Drafted with technical assistance from the counter-terror experts at the Justice Department and the FBI, the bill broadens the definition of animal enterprise to include a commercial enterprise that uses or sells animals or animal products for profit including animal shelters, breeders, pet stores and furriers, and it provides penalties for intentionally causing property damage or loss or for intentionally causing bodily harm or placing a person in reasonable fear of death or bodily harm. It also specifically addresses the "tertiary targeting" tactic employed by these extremists by prohibiting criminal acts against persons or organization with ties to an animal enterprise.

The legislation specifically exempts from its coverage all First Amendment- protected activities.

The Senate version of Petri's bill is sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as leading cosponsor. The Senate approved the bill Sept. 30 by unanimous consent. Petri brought the Senate version to the House floor in order to speed the legislation to the President's desk before the current Congress adjourns.