On November 25, President Trump signed the "Preventing
Animal Cruelty and Torture Act" or "PACT Act"
— H.R. 724 — which has become law as Public Law No. 116-72. Unlike most recent
examples of federal legislative gridlock, this measure went through
both houses of Congress with very little, if any, opposition. The
bill cleared the House on a motion to suspend the rules and pass
the bill and passed by voice vote. In the Senate, the bill
passed by unanimous consent.
As we previously
reported, the new statute basically retains the pre-existing
federal criminal prohibitions on creating or distributing so-called
"crush videos" and adds a new provision that also makes
the act of "animal crushing" a crime. As the President remarked when signing the measure:
