II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1769 

To amend the African Elephant Conservation Act to conserve elephants while 

appropriately regulating ivory in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2015 

Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the African Elephant Conservation Act to conserve 

elephants while appropriately regulating ivory in the 

United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African Elephant Con5 servation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITED EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN AFRICAN ELE7 PHANT IVORY. 

8 Section 2203 of the African Elephant Conservation 

9 Act (16 U.S.C. 4223) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘ACTS.’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘ACTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (a) (as so designated), by in5 serting ‘‘subsection (b) and’’ after ‘‘in’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) EXEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act or subsection 

8 (a) or (d) of section 9 of the Endangered Species Act of 

9 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1538) prohibits the importation or expor10 tation, or requires permission of the Secretary for the im11 portation or exportation, of— 

12 ‘‘(1) any raw ivory or worked ivory— 

13 ‘‘(A) imported solely to become part of a 

14 permanent collection of a museum, return to a 

15 lending museum, or display in a museum; or 

16 ‘‘(B) exported solely— 

17 ‘‘(i) to display in a foreign museum; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(ii) to return to a foreign person who 

20 lent the ivory to a museum in the United 

21 States; 

22 ‘‘(2) any raw ivory or worked ivory that was 

23 lawfully importable into the United States on Feb24 ruary 24, 2014, regardless of the date on which the 

25 ivory was acquired; or 


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1 ‘‘(3) any worked ivory that was previously law2 fully possessed in the United States.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF ELEPHANT IVORY. 

4 Section 2203 of the African Elephant Conservation 

5 Act (16 U.S.C. 4223) (as amended by section 2) is amend6 ed by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF ELEPHANT IVORY.—Nothing in 

8 this Act or the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or the African Elephant Conservation 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.)— 

11 ‘‘(1) prohibits, or authorizes prohibiting, the 

12 purchase, possession, sale, delivery, receipt, ship13 ment, export or import, or transportation of African 

14 elephant ivory, or any product or antique containing 

15 African elephant ivory, that has been lawfully im16 ported or crafted in the United States; or 

17 ‘‘(2) authorizes using any means of determining 

18 for purposes of this Act or the Endangered Species 

19 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) whether Afri20 can elephant ivory or an antique containing African 

21 elephant ivory has been lawfully imported, exported, 

22 bought, sold, possessed, or transported, including 

23 any presumption or burden of proof applied in such 

24 a determination, other than the means used by the 

25 Secretary as of February 24, 2014.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SPORT-HUNTED ELEPHANT TROPHIES. 

2 Section 2203 of the African Elephant Conservation 

3 Act (16 U.S.C. 4223) (as amended by section 3) is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) SPORT-HUNTED ELEPHANT TROPHIES.—Noth6 ing in this Act or subsection (a) or (d) of section 9 of 

7 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1538) 

8 prohibits any citizen or legal resident of the United States, 

9 or an agent of such an individual, from importing a sport10 hunted African elephant trophy under section 2202(e), if 

11 the country in which the African elephant was taken had 

12 an elephant population on appendix II of CITES on the 

13 date on which the trophy elephant was taken. 

14 ‘‘(e) RELATIONSHIP TO THE CONVENTION.—Nothing 

15 in this section modifies or repeals— 

16 ‘‘(1) the duties of the Secretary to implement 

17 CITES and the appendices of CITES; or 

18 ‘‘(2) section 8A or 9(c) of the Endangered Spe19 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1537a, 1538(c)).’’. 

20 SEC. 5. PLACEMENT OF UNITED STATES FISH AND WILD21 LIFE SERVICE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER 

22 IN EACH AFRICAN ELEPHANT RANGE COUN23 TRY. 

24 Part I of the African Elephant Conservation Act (16 

25 U.S.C. 4211 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

26 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2105. PLACEMENT OF UNITED STATES FISH AND 

2 WILDLIFE SERVICE LAW ENFORCEMENT OF3 FICER IN EACH AFRICAN ELEPHANT RANGE 

4 COUNTRY. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

6 with the Secretary of State, may station in each African 

7 country that has a significant population of African ele8 phants one United States Fish and Wildlife Service law 

9 enforcement officer in the primary United States diplo10 matic or consular post. 

11 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—A United States Fish and Wildlife 

12 Service law enforcement officer stationed in an African 

13 elephant range country under subsection (a) shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) assist local wildlife rangers in the protec15 tion of African elephants; and 

16 ‘‘(2) facilitate the apprehension of individuals 

17 who illegally kill, or assist the illegal killing of, Afri18 can elephants.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION FOR PURPOSES OF THE FISHER20 MEN’S PROTECTIVE ACT OF 1967. 

21 Section 2202 of the African Elephant Conservation 

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 4222) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION.—If the Secretary determines 

25 that a country, directly or indirectly, is a significant tran26 sit or destination point for illegal ivory trade, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:06 Jul 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1769.IS S1769

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1 retary shall certify that fact to the President with respect 

2 to the country for purposes of section 8(a) of the Fisher3 men’s Protective Act of 1967 (22 U.S.C. 1978(a)).’’. 

4 SEC. 7. AFRICAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ACT FINAN5 CIAL ASSISTANCE PRIORITY AND REAUTHOR6 IZATION. 

7 (a) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PRIORITY.—Section 

8 2101 of the African Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 

9 4211) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

11 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall, in providing fi15 nancial assistance under this section, give priority to 

16 projects designed to facilitate the acquisition of equipment 

17 and training of wildlife officials in ivory producing coun18 tries to be used in anti-poaching efforts.’’. 

19 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 2306(a) of the Af20 rican Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4245(a)) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘2007 through 2012’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘2016 through 2020’’. 

Æ 


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