[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8800 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8800

           To designate the bald eagle as the national bird.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 21, 2024

   Mr. Finstad (for himself, Ms. Craig, Mr. Emmer, Ms. McCollum, Mr. 
Stauber, Mrs. Fischbach, Ms. Omar, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Newhouse, Mr. Van 
Orden, and Mr. Beyer) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
           To designate the bald eagle as the national bird.

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

SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF BALD EAGLE AS NATIONAL BIRD.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Bald eagles are a historical symbol of the United 
        States representing independence, strength, and freedom.
            (2) The bald eagle is unique to North America.
            (3) The bald eagle was adopted as the Coat of Arms for the 
        United States Great Seal on June 20, 1782.
            (4) The bald eagle image remains the leading insignia for 
        all branches of the United States military.
            (5) The bald eagle is the leading image on thousands of 
        government branches, departments, and agencies, including the 
        President, Vice-President, Congress, and Senate.
            (6) The bald eagle serves as the logo, trademark, and brand 
        icon by businesses, nonprofits, and sports teams across the 
        United States.
            (7) Bald eagles are integral to the spiritual lives and 
        sacred belief systems of most Indigenous peoples and Tribal 
        communities.
            (8) Bald eagles are prevalent in belief, practice, stories, 
        ceremonies, dance, traditions, songs, regalia, flags, 
        insignias, arts, craft, and other forms of spiritual reverence.
            (9) Bald eagle festivals are held in over 100 locations 
        across America and are key components of community engagement.
            (10) The bald eagle is prevalent on hundreds of United 
        States stamps and many coins and currencies.
            (11) The bald eagle is a primary component and symbol on 
        Federal and State flags nationwide.
            (12) Joint efforts of Federal, State, and local 
        governments, as well as nonprofits and individuals, have 
        contributed to the successful recovery of the bald eagle.
    (b) Designation.--Chapter 3 of title 36, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 306. National bird
    ``The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the national 
bird.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Chapter 3 of title 36, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in the chapter heading, by striking ``AND TREE'' and 
        inserting ``TREE, AND BIRD''; and
            (2) in the table of sections, by adding at the end the 
        following:

``306. National bird.''.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section, the amendments 
made by this section, or the adoption of the bald eagle as the national 
bird of the United States may be construed or used as a reason to 
alter, change, modify, or otherwise affect any plan, policy, management 
decision, regulation, or other action of the Federal Government.
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