HR 3546 · 114th Congress 2015–2017, ended

Big Cat Public Safety Act

Introduced Sep 17, 2015 Originated House Sponsor Walter B. Jones R-NC

Latest action · Oct 6, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedSep 17, 2015
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Big Cat Public Safety Act

This bill amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit any person from breeding or possessing any live animal of any prohibited wildlife species (i.e., any live species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species). Breeding means facilitating propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or failing to prevent propagation or reproduction. The bill extends forfeiture provisions to fish, wildlife, or plants that are bred or possessed.

The bill revises the list of entities that are exempt from Lacey Act prohibitions to include:

institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums;
certain facilities that have an active written contract with an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan or Taxon Advisory Group for breeding prohibited wildlife species;
persons who do not allow the transportation and display of prohibited wildlife species off-site;
current owners of animals that were born before this bill's enactment if the animals are registered with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service within 180 days; and
certain traveling circuses that hold Class C licenses under the Animal Welfare Act.

Entities exempt from Lacey Act prohibitions must require that current owners and circuses not allow direct contact between the public and the prohibited wildlife species.

Cosponsors 95

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 17, 2015 to Sep 28, 2016; 7 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-TX	Blake Farenthold	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-FL	David W. Jolly	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-NJ	Frank A. LoBiondo	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-MI	Fred Upton	Original	Sep 17, 2015
D-CA	Loretta Sanchez	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-PA	Michael G. Fitzpatrick	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-NJ	Rodney P. Frelinghuysen	Original	Sep 17, 2015
R-CA	Duncan Hunter		Sep 18, 2015
R-FL	Dennis A. Ross		Oct 9, 2015
D-OH	Joyce Beatty		Oct 9, 2015
D-CA	Julia Brownley		Oct 9, 2015
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren		Oct 9, 2015
D-ME	Chellie Pingree		Oct 27, 2015
R-NJ	Christopher H. Smith		Oct 27, 2015
D-FL	Kathy Castor		Oct 27, 2015
R-AZ	Martha McSally		Oct 27, 2015
D-CA	Scott H. Peters		Oct 27, 2015
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer		Nov 2, 2015
D-CT	James A. Himes		Nov 2, 2015
D-IL	Mike Quigley		Nov 2, 2015
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio		Nov 2, 2015
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff		Nov 16, 2015
D-MN	Betty McCollum		Nov 16, 2015
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly		Nov 16, 2015
D-NY	Louise McIntosh Slaughter		Nov 16, 2015
D-CT	Rosa L. DeLauro		Nov 16, 2015
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings		Dec 18, 2015
D-NH	Ann M. Kuster		Dec 18, 2015
D-NM	Ben Ray Luján		Dec 18, 2015
D-NC	David E. Price		Dec 18, 2015
D-VA	Donald S. Beyer, Jr.		Dec 18, 2015
D-CT	Elizabeth H. Esty		Dec 18, 2015
D-RI	James R. Langevin		Dec 18, 2015
D-CA	Judy Chu		Dec 18, 2015
D-MA	Katherine M. Clark		Dec 18, 2015
R-OH	Michael R. Turner		Dec 18, 2015
D-NM	Michelle Lujan Grisham		Dec 18, 2015
R-CO	Mike Coffman		Dec 18, 2015
D-MA	Niki Tsongas		Dec 18, 2015
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva		Dec 18, 2015
D-CA	Sam Farr		Dec 18, 2015
D-WA	Suzan K. DelBene		Dec 18, 2015
D-OH	Tim Ryan		Dec 18, 2015
R-PA	Tom Marino		Dec 18, 2015
D-CA	Tony Cárdenas		Dec 18, 2015
D-MA	William R. Keating		Dec 18, 2015
R-MI	David A. Trott		Jan 13, 2016
D-NV	Dina Titus		Jan 13, 2016
D-CA	Jerry McNerney		Jan 13, 2016
D-MA	James P. McGovern		Feb 1, 2016
D-PA	Matt Cartwright		Feb 1, 2016
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal		Feb 9, 2016
D-NJ	Albio Sires		Feb 9, 2016
D-CA	Jackie Speier		Feb 9, 2016
D-CA	Lois Capps		Feb 9, 2016
D-NY	Nita M. Lowey		Feb 9, 2016
D-NY	Steve Israel		Feb 9, 2016
R-OH	Bill Johnson		Feb 12, 2016
D-FL	Theodore E. Deutch		Feb 25, 2016
D-GA	David Scott		Mar 15, 2016
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky		Mar 15, 2016
R-CA	Jeff Denham		Mar 15, 2016
D-MA	Stephen F. Lynch		Mar 15, 2016
D-TN	Steve Cohen		Mar 22, 2016
D-MD	C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger		Apr 13, 2016
D-MD	Elijah E. Cummings		Apr 13, 2016
D-FL	Patrick Murphy		Apr 13, 2016
D-CA	Susan A. Davis		Apr 13, 2016
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Apr 20, 2016
R-CO	Scott R. Tipton		Apr 20, 2016
R-NY	Christopher P. Gibson		Apr 29, 2016
D-NY	Carolyn B. Maloney		May 12, 2016
R-FL	Carlos Curbelo		Jun 13, 2016
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler		Jun 21, 2016
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne, Jr.		Jul 6, 2016
D-MD	Donna F. Edwards		Jul 6, 2016
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton		Jul 6, 2016
D-NY	Gregory W. Meeks		Jul 6, 2016
D-CT	John B. Larson		Jul 6, 2016
D-MA	Michael E. Capuano		Jul 6, 2016
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee		Jul 6, 2016
D-WA	Derek Kilmer		Jul 13, 2016
R-PA	Charles W. Dent		Sep 6, 2016
D-TX	Gene Green		Sep 6, 2016
D-NY	Grace Meng		Sep 6, 2016
D-KY	John A. Yarmuth		Sep 6, 2016
D-NY	Paul Tonko		Sep 6, 2016
D-VT	Peter Welch		Sep 6, 2016
D-IL	Luis V. Gutierrez		Sep 8, 2016
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici		Sep 8, 2016
D-NJ	Donald Norcross		Sep 21, 2016
D-CA	Eric Swalwell		Sep 21, 2016
D-NY	Jose E. Serrano		Sep 21, 2016
D-RI	David N. Cicilline		Sep 28, 2016
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez		Sep 28, 2016

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Natural Resources Committee	Referred Sep 17, 2015
	Federal Lands Subcommittee	Referred Oct 6, 2015

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Oct 6, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
Sep 17, 2015Introduced in House
Sep 17, 2015Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution: ``The Congress shall have the power. . . . To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes:''

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 134, September 17, 2015, page H6138.

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 2541	Big Cat Public Safety Act of 2016	Related bill	Feb 11, 2016

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain wildlife species, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Big Cat Public Safety Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Animals.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Sep 17, 2015Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.