Big Cat Public Safety Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1380) 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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1380
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 ``Big Cat Public Safety Act''. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 2 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (a) through (k) as subsections (b) through (l), respectively; and
(2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so redesignated) the following:
``(a) Breed.--The term `breed' means to facilitate propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or to fail to prevent propagation or reproduction.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Consolidated farm and rural development act.--Section 349(a)(3) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1997(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``section 2(a)'' and inserting ``section 2(b)''.
(2) Lacey act amendments of 1981.--Section 7(c) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(c)) is amended by striking ``section 2(f)(2)(A)'' and inserting ``section 2(g)(2)(A)''. SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS.
Section 3 of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ``; or'';
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; and
(iii) by striking subparagraph (C); and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``(1) through (3)'' and inserting ``(1) through (3) or subsection (e)''; and
(2) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
``(e) Captive Wildlife Offense.--
``(1) In general.--It is unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or in a manner substantially affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or to breed or possess, any prohibited wildlife species.
``(2) Limitation on application.--Paragraph (1) does not apply to--
``(A) an entity exhibiting animals to the public under a Class C license from the Department of Agriculture, or a Federal facility registered with the Department of Agriculture that exhibits animals, if such entity or facility holds such license or registration in good standing and if the entity or facility--
``(i) does not allow any individual to come into direct physical contact with a prohibited wildlife species, unless that individual is--
``(I) a trained professional employee or contractor of the entity or facility (or an accompanying employee receiving professional training);
``(II) a licensed veterinarian (or a veterinary student accompanying such a veterinarian); or
``(III) directly supporting conservation programs of the entity or facility, the contact is not in the course of commercial activity (which may be evidenced by advertisement or promotion of such activity or other relevant evidence), and the contact is incidental to humane husbandry conducted pursuant to a species-specific, publicly available, peer- edited population management and care plan that has been provided to the Secretary with justifications that the plan--
``(aa) reflects established conservation science principles;
``(bb) incorporates genetic and demographic analysis of a multi-institution population of animals covered by the plan; and
``(cc) promotes animal welfare by ensuring that the frequency of breeding is appropriate for the species;
``(ii) ensures that during public exhibition of a lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), jaguar (Panthera onca), cougar (Puma concolor), or any hybrid thereof, the animal is at least 15 feet from members of the public unless there is a permanent barrier sufficient to prevent public contact;
``(B) a State college, university, or agency, or a State- licensed veterinarian;
``(C) a wildlife sanctuary that cares for prohibited wildlife species, and--
``(i) is a corporation that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such Code;
``(ii) does not commercially trade in any prohibited wildlife species, including offspring, parts, and byproducts of such animals;
``(iii) does not breed any prohibited wildlife species;
``(iv) does not allow direct contact between the public and any prohibited wildlife species; and
``(v) does not allow the transportation and display of any prohibited wildlife species off-site;
``(D) has custody of any prohibited wildlife species solely for the purpose of expeditiously transporting the prohibited wildlife species to a person described in this paragraph with respect to the species; or
``(E) an entity or individual that is in possession of any prohibited wildlife species that was born before the date of the enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and--
``(i) not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the such Act, the entity or individual registers each individual animal of each prohibited wildlife species possessed by the entity or individual with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
``(ii) does not breed, acquire, or sell any prohibited wildlife species after the date of the enactment of such Act; and
``(iii) does not allow direct contact between the public and prohibited wildlife species.''. SEC. 4. PENALTIES.
(a) Civil Penalties.--Section 4(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
(2) by inserting ``, (e),'' after ``subsection (d)''.
(b) Criminal Penalties.--Section 4(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3373(d)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),'';
(3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``(e),'' after ``(d),''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Any person who knowingly violates subsection (e) of section 3 shall be fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. Each violation shall be a separate offense and the offense is deemed to have been committed in the district where the violation first occurred, and in any district in which the defendant may have taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife species.''. SEC. 5. FORFEITURE OF PROHIBITED WILDLIFE SPECIES.
Section 5(a)(1) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3374(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ``bred, possessed,'' before ``imported, exported,''. SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION.
Section 7(a) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3376(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(3) The Secretary shall, in consultation with other relevant Federal and State agencies, promulgate any regulations necessary to implement section 3(e).''. SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1380, the Big Cat Public Safety Act.
At the beginning of this hectic year, many Americans were introduced to the issue before us today and this legislation for the first time through the ``Tiger King,'' which in addition to a plethora of colorful real-life characters also shined a spotlight on the dark side of keeping lions, tigers, and other big cats in captivity.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act ends the ownership of big cats as pets and prohibits exhibitors from allowing public contact with big cats, including cubs.
In 2003, Congress unanimously passed the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, which amended the Lacey Act to prohibit the import, export, buying, selling, transport, receiving, or acquisition of big cats across States to the U.S. border. However, the existing law did not include prohibitions for the private possession or breeding of big cats.
Currently, State laws vary quite a bit. Some States have no restrictions; some simply require registration; and some completely prohibit ownership of big cats as pets.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act builds on the Captive Wildlife Safety Act by making it illegal to privately possess or breed lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid. The bill is narrowly focused on privately owned animals and includes exemptions for exhibitors with U.S. Department of Agriculture class C licenses, such as zoos, State universities, and sanctuaries.
This bill, championed by my colleague, Representative Mike Quigley, along with an astounding 230 cosponsors, is a commonsense solution to address public safety and animal abuse concerns. It enjoys wide bipartisan support, and it is time we passed it into law.
It is unknown how many big cats, including tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, cougars, and hybrids, are currently kept in private ownership in the United States, but estimates are in the range of 5,000 to 10,000. That means an average of up to 200 big cats are in private ownership in every State in America.
I don't know about you, Madam Speaker, but I wouldn't feel safe with my children or grandchildren living next door to a tiger, nor does that seem humane for the animals whose ancestors roamed vast expanses of the savannahs and jungles.
As we saw in ``Tiger King,'' the top priority for private big cat owners is not the best interests of animals or public safety but rather greed, profit, or glory.
Since 1990, there have been around 300 dangerous incidents involving big cats in the United States--including one just today--that have resulted in human injuries, mauling, and even death. When these incidents occur, first responders are also put at risk since they are not trained or equipped to handle situations involving big cats.
Madam Speaker, I hope you can all agree with me that the private ownership of big cats opens the door for rampant animal abuse and also presents a dangerous and significant risk to public safety.
This bill is endorsed by over 27 organizations, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the National Sheriffs' Association. Of special note as well is that the Zoological Association of America, which previously opposed this measure, has withdrawn its opposition and is now neutral because its board has now banned public contact with big cats at its accredited zoos.
Please join me in voting for this legislation to stop animal abuse and bad actors like those we saw in ``Tiger King.'' In the midst of a roller coaster of a year, here is one thing we can do to reduce the mayhem.
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Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).
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Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
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Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I appreciate, again, the comments from the ranking member, but I think he is out of step with the majority in this House, given the bipartisan nature of this particular legislation.
A couple of quick points to answer some of his objections.
First of all, as I mentioned earlier, the Zoological Association of America has withdrawn its opposition to this bill. The Zoological Association of America, contrary to the statement, is not opposed to this bill.
Second, he talks about the guidelines by the USDA being sufficient. They are obviously not sufficient when the status quo across this country still has such a tremendous and deleterious impact on animal welfare, as well as presents a continued risk for public safety. As was noted in some of the comments earlier, in fact, we have a patchwork of regulation across this country; whereas, it is time for us to have one uniform standard across this country that would apply everywhere.
He complains that this bill is a matter of special interest. I would submit, if the special interests are those special interests that are concerned about the welfare of animals and are concerned about public safety, then those are good special interests to be aligned with.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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