119-hr1934

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1934 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1934

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit the taking for 
a trophy of any endangered or threatened species of fish or wildlife in 
 the United States and the importation of endangered and threatened 
 species trophies into the United States, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 6, 2025

Mr. Lieu (for himself, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Norton, 
 Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Titus, Mr. Soto, and Mr. Huffman) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
 Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit the taking for 
a trophy of any endangered or threatened species of fish or wildlife in 
 the United States and the importation of endangered and threatened 
 species trophies into the United States, and for other purposes.

 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 ``Prohibiting Threatened and 
Endangered Creature Trophies Act of 2025'' or the ``ProTECT Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 The Congress finds the following:

    (1) Trophy hunting of imperiled species undermines efforts 
 to conserve wildlife populations because trophy hunters 
 routinely target the biggest, strongest males, and removing 
 those individuals from the population can decrease genetic 
 variation, decrease reproduction, alter social structures, 
 increase infanticide, and cause unnatural evolutionary impacts.

    (2) When trophy hunting of imperiled species is sanctioned, 
 poaching activity increases, further threatening the survival 
 of wildlife populations.

    (3) Legal trade in wildlife parts and products can provide 
 cover for markets for illegal trade in wildlife products, which 
 is worth up to $20,000,000,000 annually and run by professional 
 criminal networks linked to other transnational organized 
 criminal activities, including trafficking in narcotics, 
 weapons, and humans.

    (4) While the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
 1531 et seq.) currently prohibits the take and import of 
 species listed under that Act as endangered species, it does 
 not automatically extend those protections to species listed as 
 threatened species.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING TAKING AND IMPORTING OF ENDANGERED 
 SPECIES AND THREATENED SPECIES TROPHIES.

    (a) Prohibition of Taking or Importing.--

Section 9 of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1538) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
 ``

    (h) Trophies.--It is unlawful for any person subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States--
 ``

    (1) to take for a trophy within the United States or the 
 territorial sea of the United States any species of fish or 
 wildlife listed under 

section 4 as a threatened species; or
 ``

    (2) to import into the United States any trophy of any 
 species of fish or wildlife listed under 

section 4 as a 
 threatened species.''.

    (b) Prohibition of Permits.--

Section 10

    (a) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1539

    (a) ) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1) , by striking ``The Secretary may 
 permit'' and inserting ``Except as otherwise provided in this 
 subsection, the Secretary may permit''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (3) The Secretary may not permit or otherwise allow--
 ``
        (A) taking for a trophy any species of fish or wildlife 
 listed under 

section 4; or
 ``
        (B) importing into the United States any trophy of any 
 species of fish or wildlife listed under 

section 4, 
 notwithstanding 

section 9

    (b) .''.
            (c) Antiques.--

Section 10

    (h)

    (1) of the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1539

    (h)

    (1) ) is amended by striking ``Sections 4
            (d) , 
9

    (a) , and 9
            (c) do not apply'' and inserting ``Sections 4
            (d) , 9

    (a) , 
9
            (c) , and 9

    (h)

    (2) do not apply''.
            (d) === Definition. ===
-

Section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1532) is amended--

    (1) by redesignating paragraph

    (21) as paragraph

    (22) ; and

    (2) by inserting after paragraph

    (20) the following:
 ``

    (21) The term `trophy' means a whole dead animal, or a 
 readily recognizable part or derivative of an animal, that--
 ``
        (A) is raw, processed, or manufactured; and
 ``
        (B) was obtained under a hunting license or other 
 authorization issued by any State, foreign government, 
 or private landowner.''.
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