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HR 8401
Introduced Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the transport, purchase, and sale of pelts of, and handicrafts, garments, and art produced from, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska northern sea otters that are taken for subsistence purposes.

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the transport, purchase, and sale of pelts of, and handicrafts, garments, and art produced from, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska northern sea otters that are taken for subsistence purposes.

Introduced Apr 21, 2026

Latest action (Jun 3, 2026) Subcommittee Hearings Held

Referred to
Natural Resources Committee
Policy area
Animals
Issues
Civil Rights
Legislative subjects (4)
AlaskaAnimal protection and human-animal relationshipsMammalsSupply chain

Summary
  • Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow transport, purchase, and sale of pelts from northern sea otters in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska that are taken for subsistence purposes.
  • Allows transport, purchase, sale, and export of handicrafts, garments, and art produced from subsistence-taken northern sea otter pelts from Southcentral and Southeast Alaska.
  • These permitted products can be traditional or contemporary in design and can be significantly altered or remain unaltered.
  • The amendments apply only to northern sea otters from Southcentral and Southeast Alaska stocks taken in accordance with existing subsistence regulations.

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)

Actions (4)
  1. Jun 3, 2026 Subcommittee Hearings Held · house
  2. May 29, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. · house
  3. Apr 21, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
  4. Apr 21, 2026 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).

  • HR 7567 — Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (shares 4 subjects)
  • HR 6938 — Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 3838 — Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 5342 — Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 4754 — Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • S 2354 — Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 1 — An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14. (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 1654 — CUTS Act (shares 3 subjects)

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.

  • S 254 — ARTIST Act · Became Law Jun 12, 2026 · Cong. 119 80%
  • HR 5694 — ARTIST Act · Introduced Jun 2, 2026 · Cong. 119 79%
  • HR 6251 — To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada before the date the polar bear was determined to be a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. · Introduced Jul 15, 2026 · Cong. 119 68%
  • HR 7159 — Protecting Local Zoos Act of 2026 · Introduced Feb 4, 2026 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 6021 — Archie Cavanaugh Migratory Bird Treaty Clarification Act · Passed House Sep 15, 2026 · Cong. 119 58%
  • HR 9631 — Bear Poaching Elimination Act · Introduced Jul 9, 2026 · Cong. 119 58%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Apr 21, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 21, 2026

Mr. Begich introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow the transport, purchase, and sale of pelts of, and handicrafts, garments, and art produced from, Southcentral and Southeast Alaska northern sea otters that are taken for subsistence purposes.

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

SECTION 1. TRANSPORT, PURCHASE, AND SALE OF PELTS OF, AND HANDICRAFTS, GARMENTS, AND ART PRODUCED FROM SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ALASKA NORTHERN SEA OTTERS TAKEN FOR SUBSISTENCE PURPOSES.

Section 102 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1372) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(g) Sea Otter Pelts and Products.—Nothing in this Act prohibits—

“(1) the transport, purchase, sale of, or any offer to purchase or sell, any pelt of an otter from the Southcentral or Southeast Alaska stock of northern sea otters that is taken for subsistence purposes in accordance with section 101(b)(1); or

“(2) the transport, purchase, sale, export of, or any offer to purchase, sell or export, any handicraft, garment, or art that is produced from the pelt of the Southcentral or Southeast Alaska stock of northern sea otters that is taken for subsistence purposes in accordance with section 101(b)(1), regardless of whether the handicraft, garment, or art—

“(A) is traditional or contemporary; or

“(B) is or is not altered significantly.”. <all>

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