An act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to assess civil penalties with respect to violations of certain Acts relating to the prevention of the introduction and dissemination into the United States of plant pests, plant diseases, and livestock and poultry diseases, to increase the amount of criminal fines which may be imposed with respect to violations of such Acts, and for other purposes.
Public Law 97-461 · H.R. 6679 · 97th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jan 12, 1983 · Animals
Sponsor: Rep. William Wampler (R-VA-9)
Cosponsors (1): Rep. George Brown
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Amends the Federal Plant Pest Act, the Plant Quarantine Act, the Cattle Contagious Disease Act, and other Federal plant and animal quarantine laws, to increase maximum criminal fines from $500 (or $1,000, for certain violations) to $5,000, and provide civil penalties of up to $1,000 for violations of such Acts.
Reduces the maximum imprisonment penalty under the Act of August 30, 1890 (imported animals) from three years to one year.
Requires a violation to be "knowing" before it can be criminally liable under the Plant Quarantine Act, the Federal Plant Pest Act, and other related Acts.
Eliminates specified conveyance forfeiture provisions.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Agriculture Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.
- Jan 12, 1983Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-461.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jan 3, 1983PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Dec 21, 1982FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Sep 28, 1982FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee
- Sep 26, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Agriculture Committee
- Sep 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Agriculture Committee
- Sep 21, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Jul 6, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Department Operations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Jun 23, 1982CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Agriculture Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.