02/10/2022
ALERT: America COMPETES Act of 2022 Lacey Act Amendments
UPDATE 7/28/22: We have been posting relevant updates on our main alert page at https://usark.org/2022lacey/. To be brief, the “CHIPS-Plus” bill that passed in the Senate passed the House on 7/28 (243-187 vote). This bill includes some of the technology initiatives included in the America COMPETES Act, USICA, and other bills. The portions of COMPETES that were not germane to the intent of the bill (including the bad Lacey Act amendments) were not added to the CHIPS-Plus package. This should be the end of any threat from these Lacey Act amendments for this Congressional session.
Thank you to everyone who contacted their legislators and voiced opposition! Your opposition is hugely important and needed. When advocacy groups like USARK meet with legislators, they give us more attention if they have been hearing from their constituents. The Reptile Nation is a huge part of USARK and we just want to say thank you again to those who took the time to fight for responsible h**petoculturists.
Also, a huge thank you to other animal keepers and organizations who opposed these Lacey Act amendments! USARK and h**p keepers were certainly not the only ones fighting. The stoppage of these Lacey Act amendments shows that various animal interest groups can work together and make a difference. Thank you!
Read below or at https://usark.org/2022lacey/ (more info and What To Do at link). We also have a spin-off post at https://usark.org/2022lacey1/ and an FAQ page at https://usark.org/2022laceyfaq/.
UPDATE 7/28/22: The "CHIPS-Plus" bill passed the Senate and then the House (243-187 vote). This bill includes some of the technology initiatives included in the America COMPETES Act and other bills. The portions of COMPETES that were not germane to the intent of the bill (including the bad Lacey Act amendments) were not added to the CHIPS-Plus bill.
UPDATE 7/27/22: This is the current version of the technology-focused "CHIPS-Plus" bill. No Lacey Act amendments are in this bill.https://rules.house.gov/.../files/BILLS-117HR4346SASA.pdf
UPDATE 7/20/22: After months of negotiations, the Senate voted to advance a $52 billion bill aimed at boosting domestic semiconductor production. The House may vote next week as this works through the process. This will take some pressure off the conference committee and the USICA/COMPETES reconciliation may fade away but keep contacting legislators through our alerts!
UPDATE4/7: House Representatives have been announced to the S1260/HR4521 reconciliation conference committee. See the list at https://usark.org/laceycomm/. An unofficial list of Senate members has been released (included at link).
UPDATE 3/29: A top priority on Capitol Hill is to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act (this is the current name for the bill that will merge HR4521 and S1260). The primary goal of this bill is to boost high-tech research and chip manufacturing in the United States. Since the House and Senate passed different versions, the two versions must now be merged (reconciled). The process to conduct a formal reconciliation finally started Monday evening with a move from the Senate that replaced the text of HR4521 with the text of S1260 and sent it back to the House. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House should vote this week against the bill from the Senate. This downvote will trigger the formation of a conference committee with members from both chambers. That committee will reconcile HR4521 and S1260 to produce a final bill. Following a vote to begin a formal conference negotiation process, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell must define the structure of the committee talks.
UPDATE 3/28: Following a roll call to limit debate on the measure (cloture), the Senate voted 68-28 to send its version (text from S1260) of this bill back to the House. Next, the House will reject this bill. This was the process needed to set up a cross-chamber conference committee to settle on the final language for the bill (reconciliation of the two bills).
UPDATE 2/14: As we have stated, the America COMPETES Act (HR4521) and U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S1260) will be reconciled (merged) in committee. The merged bill will likely have a new name (promoting a “Make It In America” or similar moniker). As of this update, the House has yet to send the final version of HR4521 to the Senate (due to over 200 amendments being added on the House floor). Informal discussion on the reconciliation may begin this week. The formal Senate/House conference should begin in March. This issue of strengthening the U.S. economy (specifically in the technology fields) is a priority for many in Congress. Our mission remains to keep the Lacey Act amendments from being added to this or any other bill. Full alert at https://usark.org/2022lacey/.
UPDATE 2/4: This bill passed in the House and will go to the Senate. We will adjust our alert to contact Senators at the appropriate time. It was a slim margin with the final vote at 222-210.
UPDATE 2/1: The America COMPETES Act passed out of the Rules Committee, as expected. It will next go to the full House for a vote [debate on February 2]. Our goal is not to stop the bill but to get the Lacey Act amendments removed before it goes to the Senate. During today's hearing, Arkansas Representative Rick Crawford specifically cited the Lacey Act amendments as provisions that, "...would not stand a chance if they were vetted through regular order and the legislative process." The hearing was filled with opposition and pointed concern that this Act is far too broad and unfocused with an unreasonable number of amendments (over 600). The Act strays far beyond its stated purpose. Keep contacting your Representatives! (See https://usark.org/2022lacey/ for directions.) end update
Buried within the 2,912 pages of the America COMPETES Act of 2022 lie Lacey Act amendments that affect all non-domesticated pet owners and the greater pet community. COMPETES is an acronym for Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength. The stated purpose of the Act is to strengthen America’s economic and national security but obviously, this was slipped into the massive bill in hopes to go unnoticed.
The amendments would reverse the USARK federal lawsuit victory by reinstating the ban on interstate transportation of species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act. The bill would also create a “white list” (see #2 below) that could affect millions of pet owners, as well as pet businesses. If your species of interest, even your pet, is listed as injurious (which could happen because it can survive outside somewhere in the U.S.), then it cannot be transported across state lines. That means you could not even take a pet with you if you moved to another state or needed veterinary care across a state border. This does not just ban sales but prohibits all interstate transportation. This will trickle down to hundreds or thousands of common pet species.
The America COMPETES Act may pass in the House next week. If passed in the House, it will then be sent to the Senate to be reconciled with an innovation policy package called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA, that passed in the Senate last year. The America COMPETES Act is the House Democrats' response to USICA (which does not contain the Lacey Act Amendment). The House Rules Committee will hear the America COMPETES Act on February 1, 2022. This is the same language we saw introduced by Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Senate Bill 626 in 2021.
Briefly, the amendments will:
1. Provide that the Lacey Act bans the interstate transport of species listed as injurious. Specifically, it replaces Lacey’s current language ‘‘shipment between the continental United States’’ with ‘‘transport between the States."
2. Create a “white list” of species that can be imported. This means that any animal (reptile, amphibian, fish, bird, mammal) that is not on the white list is by default treated as an injurious species and is banned from importation.
3. Create a new authority allowing FWS to use an “emergency designation” that becomes effective immediately after being published in the Federal Register unless an extension of no more than 60 days is allowed. That means no due process, public input, hearings, advanced notice, etc. for injurious listings.
4. Permit FWS to not allow importation if a species has not been imported in “minimal quantities” (to be defined) in the year prior to the enactment of this Act.
5. The effective date would be one year after the enactment of this Act.
Read the relevant amendment text (these are pages 1661-1665) at https://usark.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022-HR4521-excerpt.pdf.
In our landmark court decision, four federal judges agreed that USARK was correct and that the Lacey Act (Title 18 Section 42 of the U.S. Code) did not ban interstate transportation of injurious species based on the original language of the Lacey Act and the intent of Congress. As a result of this fight for our members and the h**petocultural community, this meant animals domestically bred under human care could be moved and sold across state lines (within the continental United States). For h**petoculturists’ concerns, this included some species of constrictor snakes and 201 species of salamanders.
SAMPLE MESSAGING and more at https://usark.org/2022lacey/.
