Captive Primate Safety Act

The Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 2964) was a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Rep. Eddie Johnson on July 10, 2007.[1] The legislation, had it been enacted, would have modified the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to treat nonhuman primates as prohibited wildlife species, allowing exemptions for zoos and research facilities. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives but never received a floor vote in the United States Senate.

The bill was reintroduced by Rep. Mark Kirk[2] in February 2009 following the widely publicized mauling of Charla Nash by a pet chimpanzee.[3]

Rep. Rob Bishop argued against the bill during the floor debate, noting it would cost $4 million annually and do nothing directly to prevent chimpanzee attacks on humans; he also noted such attacks are relatively rare.[4] Twenty states and the District of Columbia already had laws banning primates as pets.[5] On 23 February 2009 the House voted 323 to 95 in favor of the bill. The House version would exempt monkey helpers.[4]

Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
109th Congress Captive Primate Safety Act H.R. 1329 March 16, 2005 Eddie Bernice Johnson

(D-TX)

47 Died in committee
Captive Primate Safety Act of 2005 S. 1509 July 27, 2005 Jim Jeffords

(I-VT)

6 Passed Senate (unanimous consent)
110th Congress Captive Primate Safety Act H.R. 2964 July 10, 2007 Eddie Bernice Johnson

(D-TX)

25 Passed House
S. 1498 May 24, 2007 Barbara Boxer

(D-CA)

5 Died in committee
111th Congress H.R. 80 January 6, 2009 Earl Blumenauer

(D-OR)

27 Passed House
S. 462 February 24, 2009 Barbara Boxer

(D-CA)

8 Died in committee
112th Congress H.R. 4306 March 29, 2012 Mike Fitzpatrick

(R-PA)

9 Died in committee
S. 1324 July 5, 2011 Barbara Boxer

(D-CA)

6 Died in committee
113th Congress H.R. 2856 July 30, 2013 Mike Fitzpatrick

(R-PA)

152 Died in committee
S. 1463 August 1, 2013 Barbara Boxer

(D-CA)

25 Died in committee
114th Congress H.R. 2920 June 25, 2015 Mike Fitzpatrick

(R-PA)

75 Died in committee
116th Congress H.R. 1776 March 14, 2019 Earl Blumenauer

(D-OR)

66 Died in committee
S. 2562 September 26, 2019 Richard Blumenthal

(D-CT)

12 Died in committee
117th Congress H.R. 3135 May 12, 2021 Earl Blumenauer

(D-OR)

67 Referred to committee
S. 1588 May 12, 2021 Richard Blumenthal

(D-CT)

11 Referred to committee

References

  1. ^ "H.R. 2964 [110th]: Captive Primate Safety Act". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  2. ^ "Ben Smith's Blog: The Primate Act of '09". Politico.Com. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  3. ^ "Topic Galleries". Courant.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  4. ^ a b Peter Urban, House approves primate pet ban Archived 2009-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Connecticut Post, February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  5. ^ House tightens restrictions on chimps as pets Archived February 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, USA TODAY, February 24, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
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