{"format":1,"id":"119-s-254","congress":119,"number":"S. 254","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","official_title":"A bill to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to protect the cultural practices and livelihoods of producers of Alaska Native handicrafts and marine mammal ivory products, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"A bill to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to protect the cultural practices and livelihoods of producers of Alaska Native handicrafts and marine mammal ivory products, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text","title":"ARTIST Act"},{"type":"Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text","title":"Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","title":"Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","title":"ARTIST Act"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"ARTIST Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to Senate","title":"ARTIST Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Reported to Senate","title":"Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"ARTIST Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act"}],"outcome":"became_law","law_number":"Public Law 119-99","introduced":"2025-01-24","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2026-06-03","vote":{"id":"119-2026-h193","question":"On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass","title":"ARTIST Act","result":"Passed","yea":404,"nay":14,"present":0,"not_voting":12,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/roll193.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"voice","date":"2025-10-08","vote":null,"how":"unanimous_consent","words":"Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent."}},"president":{"status":"signed","date":"2026-06-12"},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Became Public Law No: 119-99.","date":"2026-06-12"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2026-06-12","stage":"Public Law","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act or the ARTIST Act"},{"k":"p","t":"This act prohibits states from imposing bans on marine mammal products produced by Alaska Natives."},{"k":"p","t":"Specifically, states may not prohibit the interstate commerce, importation, sale, transfer, trade, barter, or possession of marine mammal ivory, marine mammal bone, or baleen legally produced by an Alaska Native as an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing."}],"words":67},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Rewrites the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 exemption for Alaska Natives, covering the taking of marine mammals and the sale of Alaska Native handicrafts and clothing, and bars States from prohibiting commerce in marine mammal ivory, bone or baleen incorporated into those articles.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}]},"core_areas":["Alaska Native exemption from the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972","Sale and interstate commerce of Alaska Native handicrafts and clothing made with marine mammal parts","Secretary's regulation of the taking of depleted marine mammal species or stocks"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Defines \"authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing\" as an item made wholly or significantly of natural materials by an Alaska Native who resides in Alaska and dwells on the North Pacific or Arctic Ocean coast, without a pantograph, multiple carvers, or any other mass copying device.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}},{"text":"Provides that the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, except section 109, does not apply to the taking of marine mammals by such Alaska Natives for subsistence or for creating and selling authentic handicrafts and clothing, if the taking also meets the text's condition on the manner of taking.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}},{"text":"Allows an item presented as an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing to be sold in interstate commerce only if it meets the definition in the text.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}},{"text":"Allows the Secretary to prescribe regulations on the taking of a marine mammal species or stock determined to be depleted, after notice and hearing under section 103, and requires removal of the regulations once the need has disappeared.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}},{"text":"Requires the Secretary to demonstrate in writing, and post on the Secretary's website, that certain regulations, assessments, determinations or findings are supported by substantial evidence, considering the whole record including Indigenous knowledge, in actions brought by Alaska Native organizations.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}},{"text":"Bars any State from prohibiting the interstate commerce, importation, sale, transfer, trade, barter or possession of marine mammal ivory, bone or baleen incorporated by an Alaska Native into an authentic Alaska Native article of handicrafts and clothing.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"}}],"unexpected":[{"category":"selective_carve_out","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr#id35504a37-10b1-4a0f-bd31-137cab4b19c2:~:text=2.%20Alaska%20Native%20handicrafts"},"heading":"Alaska Native handicrafts","effect":"Provides that the Secretary's duty to show in writing that regulations, assessments, and depletion determinations are supported by substantial evidence applies only in an action brought by Alaska Native organizations.","amount":null,"quote":"The requirement under subparagraph (D) shall only be applicable in an action brought by one or more Alaska Native organizations representing persons to which this subsection applies."}]}],"version":{"type":"Enrolled Bill","date":null,"rule":"enrolled","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text/enr"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-02","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/254/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/119-s-254.png","v":"24299f704019","alt":"Votes on Record. S. 254, 119th Congress: Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act. House: 404 Yea, 14 Nay. Senate: unanimous consent. Outcome: Became law, 12 Jun 2026."}}