I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2327 
To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to strengthen polar 
bear conservation efforts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2007 
Mr. INSLEE (for himself, Mr. LOBIONDO, and Mr. DICKS) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to 
strengthen polar bear conservation efforts, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Polar Bear Protection 
Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Section 101 of the Marine Mammal Protec-
tion Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1371) established a 
moratorium on the importation of marine mammals 
and marine mammal products, including the impor-
tation of all sport hunted marine mammal trophies. 
(2) In 1994, such section was amended to cre-
ate an exemption from the moratorium, which allows 
the importation of sport-hunted polar bear trophies 
from Canada. 
(3) This exemption has had the effect of in-
creasing Canadian polar bear mortalities from 
United States sport hunters. 
(4) Polar bears have low reproductive rates, 
have long lives, and rely on high adult survival rates 
to maintain population numbers. In addition, polar 
bear populations are under stress from climate 
change and habitat degradation. 
(5) In July 2005, the World Conservation 
Union Polar Bear Specialist Group released its 
quadrennial report, in which it reviewed the status 
of polar bears and concluded that the species should 
be upgraded from ‘‘a species of least concern’’ to 
‘‘vulnerable’’, based on the ‘‘likelihood of an overall 
decline in the size of the total population of more 
than 30 percent within the next 35 to 50 years’’. 
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(6) Based on threats posed to polar bears, on 
December 27, 2006, the Department of the Interior 
proposed that polar bears be listed under the En-
dangered Species Act of 1973 as threatened species. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing: 
(1) To ensure that citizens of the United States 
do not contribute to polar bear mortalities in Can-
ada by removing the exemption in that Act that al-
lows for the Secretary of the Interior to issue per-
mits to United States trophy hunters for the impor-
tation of polar bear trophies from Canada. 
(2) To heed the warnings of the Department of 
the Interior and the World Conservation Union 
Polar Bear Specialist Group that polar bears are at 
risk and could become endangered, by prohibiting 
such importation. 
(3) To further the goals of the International 
Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears, to 
which all five nations with polar bears within their 
borders are a party. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO PROHIBIT IMPORTATION OF 
POLAR BEARS AND POLAR BEAR PARTS. 
The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 is 
amended— 
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(1) in section 101(a)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(1)) 
by— 
(A) striking ‘‘, or for importation of polar 
bear parts (other than internal organs) taken in 
sport hunts in Canada.’’ and inserting ‘‘. No 
permit may be issued under this Act for the im-
portation of polar bear parts taken in a sport 
hunt.’’; 
(B) striking ‘‘, except permits issued under 
section 104(c)(5),’’; and 
(C) striking ‘‘, other than importation 
under section 104(c)(5),’’; 
(2) in section 104(c) (16 U.S.C. 1374(c))— 
(A) in paragraph (2)(E), by striking 
‘‘paragraph (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(9)’’; 
(B) in paragraph (8)(B)(ii), by striking 
‘‘paragraph (10)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 
(9)’’; 
(C) by striking paragraph (5); and 
(D) by redesignating (6) through (10) as 
paragraphs (5) through (9); and 
(3) 
in 
section 
104(e)(1) 
(16 
U.S.C. 
1374(e)(1))— 
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(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 
after the comma at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘, 
or’’ and inserting a period; and 
(C) by striking subparagraph (C). 
Æ 
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