[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1329 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1329

To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as 
              prohibited wildlife species under that Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2005

   Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (for herself and Mr. Simmons) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as 
              prohibited wildlife species under that Act.

    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 ``Captive Primate Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) There may be as many as 15,000 nonhuman primates 
        including chimpanzees, rhesus macaques, capuchins, and other 
        monkeys, owned by private individuals in the United States.
            (2) Primates can potentially transmit such dangerous human 
        diseases as yellow fever, monkey pox, Ebola and Marburg virus, 
        Foot and Mouth Disease, tuberculosis, herpes-b, and Simian 
        Immunodeficiency Virus.
            (3) Primates are highly intelligent and social animals. 
        Most captive environments cannot meet their complex social and 
        psychological needs, and pet primates are often kept chained or 
        confined in small enclosures.
            (4) A number of privately owned nonhuman primates have 
        attacked humans and other animals, or have escaped from their 
        enclosures to freely and dangerously roam the community.
            (5) Over 40 percent of the 234 primate species are now 
        threatened with extinction, and primate pet ownership does not 
        contribute to the conservation of the species.

SEC. 3. ADDITION OF NONHUMAN PRIMATES TO DEFINITION OF PROHIBITED 
              WILDLIFE SPECIES.

    Section 2(g) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 
3371(g)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end ``or any 
non-human primate''.
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