II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1406 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to strengthen polar 

bear conservation efforts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 

strengthen polar bear conservation efforts, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Polar Bear Protection 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) section 101 of the Marine Mammal Protec9 tion Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371) establishes a 

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1 moratorium relating to the importation of marine 

2 mammals and marine mammal products, including 

3 the importation of all sport-hunted marine mammal 

4 trophies; 

5 (2) in 1994, that Act was amended to create an 

6 exemption from the moratorium that allows the im7 portation of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from 

8 Canada; 

9 (3) this exemption has increased Canadian 

10 polar bear mortalities from United States sport 

11 hunters; 

12 (4) polar bears— 

13 (A) have low reproductive rates; 

14 (B) have long lives; 

15 (C) rely on high adult survival rates to 

16 maintain population numbers; and 

17 (D) are under stress from climate change 

18 and habitat degradation; 

19 (5) in July 2005, the World Conservation 

20 Union Polar Bear Specialist Group released a quad21 rennial report, in which the Group— 

22 (A) reviewed the status of polar bears; and 

23 (B) concluded that the species should be 

24 upgraded from ‘‘a species of least concern’’ to 

25 ‘‘vulnerable’’ based on the ‘‘likelihood of an 

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1 overall decline in the size of the total population 

2 of more than 30 percent within the next 35 to 

3 50 years’’; and 

4 (6) based on threats posed to polar bears, on 

5 December 27, 2006, the Department of the Interior 

6 proposed that polar bears be listed under the En7 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

8 seq.) as a threatened species. 

9 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

10 (1) to ensure that citizens of the United States 

11 do not contribute to polar bear mortalities in Can12 ada by removing the exemption in the Marine Mam13 mal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) 

14 that allows for the Secretary of the Interior to issue 

15 permits to United States trophy hunters for the im16 portation of polar bear trophies from Canada; 

17 (2) to heed the warnings of the Department of 

18 the Interior and the World Conservation Union 

19 Polar Bear Specialist Group that polar bears are at 

20 risk and could become endangered by prohibiting the 

21 importation of polar bear trophies from Canada; and 

22 (3) to further the goals of the International 

23 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, done 

24 at Oslo, November 15, 1973 (27 UST 3918), to 

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1 which all 5 countries with polar bears within the 

2 borders of the countries are a party. 

3 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF THE IMPORTATION OF POLAR 

4 BEARS AND POLAR BEAR PARTS. 

5 The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 

6 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in section 101(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 

8 1371(a)(1))— 

9 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘, or 

10 for importation of polar bear parts (other than 

11 internal organs) taken in sport hunts in Can12 ada’’ and inserting ‘‘, except that no permit 

13 may be issued under this Act for the importa14 tion of polar bear parts taken in a sport hunt’’; 

15 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘, 

16 except permits issued under section 104(c)(5),’’; 

17 and 

18 (C) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘, 

19 other than importation under section 

20 104(c)(5),’’; and 

21 (2) in section 104 (16 U.S.C. 1374)— 

22 (A) in subsection (c)— 

23 (i) in paragraph (2)(E), by striking 

24 ‘‘paragraph (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘para25 graph (9)’’; 

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1 (ii) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by strik2 ing ‘‘paragraph (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘para3 graph (9)’’; 

4 (iii) by striking paragraph (5); and 

5 (iv) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

6 through (10) as paragraphs (5) through 

7 (9), respectively; and 

8 (B) in subsection (e)(1)— 

9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

10 the comma and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 ‘‘, or’’ and inserting a period; and 

13 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C). 

Æ 

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