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Manatee Protection Act of 2025
To designate the West Indian manatee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill designates the West Indian manatee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The Secretary of the Interior is required to include the West Indian manatee in the official endangered species list published under the Endangered Species Act. The endangered species designation would provide the manatee with the full range of legal protections available under federal law for endangered species, including habitat protection, restrictions on taking, and recovery planning requirements.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
11 cosponsors
- Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] (R-FL)
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL)
- Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19] (R-FL)
- Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10] (D-FL)
- Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27] (R-FL)
- Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
- Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-25] (D-FL)
- Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11] (R-FL)
- Rescom. Hernández, Pablo Jose [D-PR-At Large] (D-PR)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Vern Buchanan’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SELECT MEDICAL CORPORATION $43,200
- FLORIDA CRYSTALS $16,100
- DERICK DERMATOLOGY $13,200
- BLACKSTONE $8,100
- CASL $7,609
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Vern Buchanan → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Mr. Buchanan (for himself and Mr. Frost) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To designate the West Indian manatee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes.
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 “Manatee Protection Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. WEST INDIAN MANATEE DESIGNATED ENDANGERED SPECIES.
(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the species known as the “West Indian manatee” (Trichechus manatus) shall be treated as an endangered species for purposes of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
(b) Listing of West Indian Manatee.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior shall include the species known as the “West Indian manatee” (Trichechus manatus) in the endangered species list published under section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)). <all>
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