H.R. 263: Big Cat Public Safety Act

Bill · 117th Congress (2021–2022). Became law, 20 Dec 2022 · Public Law 117-243. Introduced 11 Jan 2021.

Official title: To amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain wildlife species, and for other purposes.

Vote results

How each member voted

White House

Signed (1): Joseph Biden (D, President).

Not in office (1): Donald Trump (R, President).

Senate

Agreed to by voice vote: the record lists no member’s position.

House

Yea (278): Harold Rogers (R-KY-5); Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ-4); Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD-5); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9); Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR-4); Fred Upton (R-MI-6); Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-6); Richard E. Neal (D-MA-1); Jim Cooper (D-TN-5); Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT-3); Maxine Waters (D-CA-43); Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10); Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-2); Ken Calvert (R-CA-42); James E. Clyburn (D-SC-6); Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-18); Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30); Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY-12); Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40); Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1); Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3); Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7); Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS-2); Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-35); Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18); Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19); Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3); Steve Chabot (R-OH-1); Kevin Brady (R-TX-8); Danny K. Davis (D-IL-7); Diana DeGette (D-CO-1); Ron Kind (D-WI-3); James P. McGovern (D-MA-2); Brad Sherman (D-CA-30); Adam Smith (D-WA-9); Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY-5); Barbara Lee (D-CA-13); John B. Larson (D-CT-1); Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32); Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL-9); Mike Thompson (D-CA-5); Pete Sessions (R-TX-17); James R. Langevin (D-RI-2); Rick Larsen (D-WA-2); Betty McCollum (D-MN-4); Adam B. Schiff (D-CA-28); Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA-8); Tom Cole (R-OK-4); Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL-25); Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ-3); C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD-2); Tim Ryan (D-OH-13); David Scott (D-GA-13); Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA-38); Michael R. Turner (R-OH-10); Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO-5); Jim Costa (D-CA-16); Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28); Al Green (D-TX-9); Brian Higgins (D-NY-26); Michael T. McCaul (R-TX-10); Gwen Moore (D-WI-4); Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23); Doris O. Matsui (D-CA-6); Albio Sires (D-NJ-8); Gus M. Bilirakis (R-FL-12); Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16); Kathy Castor (D-FL-14); Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-9); Steve Cohen (D-TN-9); Joe Courtney (D-CT-2); Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4); Jerry McNerney (D-CA-9); Ed Perlmutter (D-CO-7); John P. Sarbanes (D-MD-3); Peter Welch (D-VT-AL); John A. Yarmuth (D-KY-3); André Carson (D-IN-7); Jackie Speier (D-CA-14); Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA-11); James A. Himes (D-CT-4); Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1); Bill Posey (R-FL-8); Paul Tonko (D-NY-20); Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5); Mike Quigley (D-IL-5); Judy Chu (D-CA-27); John Garamendi (D-CA-3); Bill Foster (D-IL-11); Karen Bass (D-CA-37); David N. Cicilline (D-RI-1); Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA-3); Bill Johnson (R-OH-6); William R. Keating (D-MA-9); Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16); David B. McKinley (R-WV-1); Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS-4); David Schweikert (R-AZ-6); Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7); Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL-24); Steve Womack (R-AR-3); Dina Titus (D-NV-1); Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-7); Mark E. Amodei (R-NV-2); Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1); Suzan K. DelBene (D-WA-1); Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ-10); Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3); Ami Bera (D-CA-7); Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17); Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8); Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20); Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29); Rodney Davis (R-IL-13); Lois Frankel (D-FL-21); Jared Huffman (D-CA-2); Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY-8); David P. Joyce (R-OH-14); Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI-5); Derek Kilmer (D-WA-6); Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-2); Ann M. Kuster (D-NH-2); Alan S. Lowenthal (D-CA-47); Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY-18); Grace Meng (D-NY-6); Scott H. Peters (D-CA-52); Mark Pocan (D-WI-2); Tom Rice (R-SC-7); Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36); Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15); Mark Takano (D-CA-41); Juan Vargas (D-CA-51); Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33); Robin L. Kelly (D-IL-2); Katherine M. Clark (D-MA-5); Alma S. Adams (D-NC-12); Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1); Pete Aguilar (D-CA-31); Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-8); Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA-2); Ken Buck (R-CO-4); Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-GA-1); Ed Case (D-HI-1); Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-11); Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-7); J. French Hill (R-AR-2); John Katko (R-NY-24); Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI-14); Ted Lieu (D-CA-33); Seth Moulton (D-MA-6); Kathleen M. Rice (D-NY-4); Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21); Norma J. Torres (D-CA-35); Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12); Lee M. Zeldin (R-NY-1); Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10); David G. Valadao (R-CA-21); Dwight Evans (D-PA-3); Don Bacon (R-NE-2); Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA-44); Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE-AL); Anthony G. Brown (D-MD-4); Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA-24); J. Luis Correa (D-CA-46); Val Butler Demings (D-FL-10); Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13); Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-1); Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8); Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15); Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5); Steven Horsford (D-NV-4); Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7); Ro Khanna (D-CA-17); Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8); Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL-5); Stephanie N. Murphy (D-FL-7); Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1); Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20); Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); John H. Rutherford (R-FL-4); Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11); Darren Soto (D-FL-9); Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3); Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34); John R. Curtis (R-UT-3); Conor Lamb (D-PA-17); Troy Balderson (R-OH-12); Joseph D. Morelle (D-NY-25); Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5); Susan Wild (D-PA-7); Colin Z. Allred (D-TX-32); Cynthia Axne (D-IA-3); Tim Burchett (R-TN-2); Sean Casten (D-IL-6); Angie Craig (D-MN-2); Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2); Jason Crow (D-CO-6); Sharice Davids (D-KS-3); Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4); Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16); Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-7); Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29); Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-4); Jared F. Golden (D-ME-2); Lance Gooden (R-TX-5); Josh Harder (D-CA-10); Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5); Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6); Andy Kim (D-NJ-3); Susie Lee (D-NV-3); Andy Levin (D-MI-9); Mike Levin (D-CA-49); Elaine G. Luria (D-VA-2); Tom Malinowski (D-NJ-7); Lucy McBath (D-GA-6); Joe Neguse (D-CO-2); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14); Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5); Chris Pappas (D-NH-1); Dean Phillips (D-MN-3); Katie Porter (D-CA-45); Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7); Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14); Kim Schrier (D-WA-8); Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11); Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-8); Abigail Davis Spanberger (D-VA-7); Greg Stanton (D-AZ-9); Haley M. Stevens (D-MI-11); Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13); Lori Trahan (D-MA-3); David J. Trone (D-MD-6); Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14); Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ-2); Michael Waltz (R-FL-6); Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10); Claudia Tenney (R-NY-22); Mike Garcia (R-CA-25); Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27); Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-4); Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-7); Jamaal Bowman (D-NY-16); Cori Bush (D-MO-1); Madison Cawthorn (R-NC-11); Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2); Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL-26); Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-1); Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53); Mondaire Jones (D-NY-17); Kaiali’i Kahele (D-HI-2); Young Kim (R-CA-39); Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3); Nancy Mace (R-SC-1); Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11); Kathy E. Manning (D-NC-6); Lisa C. McClain (R-MI-10); Barry Moore (R-AL-2); Frank J. Mrvan (D-IN-1); Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22); Marie Newman (D-IL-3); Deborah K. Ross (D-NC-2); Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27); Michelle Steel (R-CA-48); Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10); Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15); Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24); Nikema Williams (D-GA-5); Troy A. Carter (D-LA-2); Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1); Shontel M. Brown (D-OH-11); Mike Carey (R-OH-15); Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20); Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL-22); A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-4); Charlie Crist (D-FL-13).

Nay (134): Frank D. Lucas (R-OK-3); Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-4); Kay Granger (R-TX-12); Michael K. Simpson (R-ID-2); Sam Graves (R-MO-6); Joe Wilson (R-SC-2); John R. Carter (R-TX-31); Mike Rogers (R-AL-3); Darrell Issa (R-CA-50); Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5); Louie Gohmert (R-TX-1); Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC-10); Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5); Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5); Adrian Smith (R-NE-3); Robert E. Latta (R-OH-5); Robert J. Wittman (R-VA-1); Tim Walberg (R-MI-7); Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2); Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-3); Tom McClintock (R-CA-4); Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15); Mo Brooks (R-AL-5); Larry Bucshon (R-IN-8); Eric A. "Rick" Crawford (R-AR-1); Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4); Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann (R-TN-3); Bob Gibbs (R-OH-7); Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ-4); H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA-9); Andy Harris (R-MD-1); Bill Huizenga (R-MI-2); Mike Kelly (R-PA-16); Austin Scott (R-GA-8); Daniel Webster (R-FL-11); Thomas Massie (R-KY-4); Andy Barr (R-KY-6); Richard Hudson (R-NC-8); Doug LaMalfa (R-CA-1); Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2); Scott Perry (R-PA-10); Chris Stewart (R-UT-2); Ann Wagner (R-MO-2); Randy K. Weber, Sr. (R-TX-14); Brad R. Wenstrup (R-OH-2); Roger Williams (R-TX-25); Jason Smith (R-MO-8); Brian Babin (R-TX-36); Mike Bost (R-IL-12); Tom Emmer (R-MN-6); Garret Graves (R-LA-6); Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6); Jody B. Hice (R-GA-10); Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11); John R. Moolenaar (R-MI-4); Alexander X. Mooney (R-WV-2); Dan Newhouse (R-WA-4); Gary J. Palmer (R-AL-6); David Rouzer (R-NC-7); Bruce Westerman (R-AR-4); Trent Kelly (R-MS-1); Darin LaHood (R-IL-18); James Comer (R-KY-1); Jodey C. Arrington (R-TX-19); Jim Banks (R-IN-3); Jack Bergman (R-MI-1); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-5); Ted Budd (R-NC-13); Liz Cheney (R-WY-AL); Neal P. Dunn (R-FL-2); A. Drew Ferguson IV (R-GA-3); Clay Higgins (R-LA-3); Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN-9); Mike Johnson (R-LA-4); David Kustoff (R-TN-8); Brian J. Mast (R-FL-18); Ron Estes (R-KS-4); Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-8); Michael Cloud (R-TX-27); Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL); James R. Baird (R-IN-4); Ben Cline (R-VA-6); Russ Fulcher (R-ID-1); Mark E. Green (R-TN-7); Michael Guest (R-MS-3); Dusty Johnson (R-SD-AL); John Joyce (R-PA-13); Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9); Carol D. Miller (R-WV-3); Greg Pence (R-IN-6); John W. Rose (R-TN-6); Chip Roy (R-TX-21); Pete Stauber (R-MN-8); Bryan Steil (R-WI-1); W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17); Van Taylor (R-TX-3); William R. Timmons IV (R-SC-4); Fred Keller (R-PA-12); Dan Bishop (R-NC-9); Gregory F. Murphy (R-NC-3); Thomas P. Tiffany (R-WI-7); Cliff Bentz (R-OR-2); Stephanie I. Bice (R-OK-5); Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3); Kat Cammack (R-FL-3); Jerry L. Carl (R-AL-1); Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9); Byron Donalds (R-FL-19); Pat Fallon (R-TX-4); Randy Feenstra (R-IA-4); Michelle Fischbach (R-MN-7); Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-5); Scott Franklin (R-FL-15); Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23); Yvette Herrell (R-NM-2); Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1); Ronny Jackson (R-TX-13); Jake LaTurner (R-KS-2); Tracey Mann (R-KS-1); Peter Meijer (R-MI-3); Mary E. Miller (R-IL-15); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-2); Blake D. Moore (R-UT-1); Jay Obernolte (R-CA-8); Burgess Owens (R-UT-4); August Pfluger (R-TX-11); Matthew M. Rosendale, Sr. (R-MT-AL); Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5); Julia Letlow (R-LA-5); Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6); Connie Conway (R-CA-22); Mayra Flores (R-TX-34); Mike Flood (R-NE-1); Jackie Walorski (R-IN-2).

Not voting (18): David E. Price (D-NC-4); Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-9); Michael C. Burgess (R-TX-26); Jim Jordan (R-OH-4); Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23); Steve Scalise (R-LA-1); Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3); Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4); Billy Long (R-MO-7); Rick W. Allen (R-GA-12); Warren Davidson (R-OH-8); Ralph Norman (R-SC-5); Kevin Hern (R-OK-1); Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16); Bob Good (R-VA-5); Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14); Michael F. Doyle (D-PA-18); G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1).

Speaker, not listed (1): Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12).

Not in office (18): Brad Finstad (R-MN-1); Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK-AL); Patrick Ryan (D-NY-19); Joseph Sempolinski (R-NY-23); Rudy Yakym III (R-IN-2); Don Young (R-AK-AL); Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL-20); Devin Nunes (R-CA-22); Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE-1); Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH-11); Tom Reed (R-NY-23); Steve Stivers (R-OH-15); Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-2); Filemon Vela (D-TX-34); Antonio Delgado (D-NY-19); Jim Hagedorn (R-MN-1); Debra A. Haaland (D-NM-1); Ron Wright (R-TX-6).

Summary

Main subject: Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to make it unlawful to breed or possess certain big cat species and their hybrids, with listed exceptions, and sets penalties, forfeiture and regulation authority for those offenses. Sec. 3, Sec. 4, Sec. 5, Sec. 6

Its core areas: Big cat possession and breeding prohibitions under the Lacey Act; Exemptions for licensed exhibitors, sanctuaries, universities and registered existing owners; Criminal and civil penalties and forfeiture for big cat offenses.

Unexpected Items: 1 provision

These provisions fall outside the bill’s main subject or apply narrowly. This describes the text; it is not a judgment.

Exception or delay for a subset (1)

What it does

Written automatically from the official text by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model. Written 15 Oct 2026 and published after the automatic checks, without a person reading it first. Every line names the section it came from.

Sources