MINKS are Superspreaders Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7670 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7670

To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the captivity of mink, and 
                          for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2024

  Ms. Mace (for herself, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Tonko, Mr. 
      Gooden of Texas, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Van Drew, and Ms. Dean of 
Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the captivity of mink, 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 ``Minks In Narrowly Kept Spaces are 
Superspreaders Act'' or the ``MINKS are Superspreaders Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CAPTIVITY OF MINK.

    The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting after section 19 (7 
U.S.C. 2149) the following:

``SEC. 20. PROHIBITION ON CAPTIVITY OF MINK.

    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no person 
shall transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or 
foreign commerce, or breed or possess, any American mink (Neovison 
vison) raised in captivity for fur production, whether dead or alive, 
or any part, product, or offspring thereof.
    ``(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to an entity 
described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 3(e)(2) of 
the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3372(e)(2)).
    ``(c) Buy-Out of Mink Farms.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations, the Secretary shall seek to purchase privately 
        owned mink farms for an amount determined under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Amount.--In determining an amount to offer a mink 
        farmer to purchase the applicable mink farm pursuant to 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into account--
                    ``(A) the most recent 3-year average of the number 
                of mink owned by the mink farmer; and
                    ``(B) the infrastructure value of the mink farm.''.
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