I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1584 
To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to prohibit the taking, 
importation, and exportation of Orcas and Orca products for public 
display, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2017 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARK of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HECK, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. POLIS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Ms. SPEIER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 
prohibit the taking, importation, and exportation of 
Orcas and Orca products for public display, 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 ‘‘Orca Responsibility 
and Care Advancement Act of 2017’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:49 Mar 22, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1584.IH
H1584
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON TAKING, IMPORTATION, AND EX-
PORTATION OF ORCAS AND ORCA PRODUCTS 
FOR PUBLIC DISPLAY. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON PERMITS FOR TAKING OR IM-
PORTATION.—Section 104(a) of the Marine Mammal Pro-
tection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1374(a)) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(a)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Sec-
retary may issue permits which authorize the taking or 
importation of any marine mammal. 
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no 
permit may be issued by the Secretary that authorizes the 
taking or importation of any marine mammal of the spe-
cies Orcinus orca, or any marine mammal product that 
consists, or is composed in whole or in part, of such spe-
cies, for the purpose of public display. 
‘‘(3) Permits for the incidental taking of marine 
mammals in the course of commercial fishing operations 
may only be issued as specifically provided for in section 
101(a)(5) or 306, or subsection (h) of this section.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION
ON EXPORTATION
FOR PUBLIC 
DISPLAY.—Section 102 of the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1372(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsections: 
‘‘(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it 
is unlawful to export any marine mammal product that 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:49 Mar 22, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1584.IH
H1584
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
consists, or is composed in whole or in part, of the species 
Orcinus orca. 
‘‘(h)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
it is unlawful to export any marine mammal of the species 
Orcinus orca— 
‘‘(A) for a purpose other than to transport such 
marine mammal to a marine mammal sanctuary; 
and 
‘‘(B) without a determination by the Secretary 
that the transportation to such sanctuary is in the 
best interest of the individual marine mammal. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘sanctuary’ means 
a place of refuge where marine mammals— 
‘‘(A) live in a setting as close as possible to 
their natural environment; 
‘‘(B) are prioritized individually with respect to 
well-being and autonomy; and 
‘‘(C) are not used for profit or bred.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON BREEDING OF ORCAS. 
The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting 
after section 26 (7 U.S.C. 2156) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 26A. BREEDING OF ORCAS. 
‘‘It shall be unlawful for any person to artificially in-
seminate or breed a marine mammal of the species 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:49 Mar 22, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1584.IH
H1584
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Orcinus orca for purposes of using the progeny of such 
species for public display.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:49 Mar 22, 2017
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1584.IH
H1584
lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS