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Lacey Act

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Lacey Act: the diverse coalition that supports it and why efforts to weaken it should be resisted. Name an environmental law strongly supported by both Republicans and Democrats, America’s timber industry, purchasers of wood products, labor unions, and environmental organizations.

Lacey Act: the diverse coalition that supports it and why efforts to weaken it should be resisted

Stumped? Actually there is such a law. It’s called the Lacey Act — which has an important provision to stop imports of illegal wood and wood products into the U.S. This law is a critical tool in efforts halt deforestation, it protects American jobs, and helps establish rule of law in developing countries. The Lacey Act, last amended in 2008, is drawing fresh debate because federal agents this past summer raided Gibson Guitar Corp., factories in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee to investigate whether the firm used illegally imported wood from India, which would be a violation of the act.

Some are using this recent controversy to undermine this Act. A common sense law. The Lacey Act doesn’t cover every law in the exporting country. Protects jobs. As Rep. Lacey Act of 1900. The Lacey Act of 1900, or simply the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3371–3378) is a conservation law in the United States.

Lacey Act of 1900

Introduced into Congress by Rep. John F. Lacey, an Iowa Republican, the act was signed into law by President William McKinley on May 25, 1900. The Lacey Act protects both plants and wildlife by creating civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of violations. It prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold. A 2008 amendment included anti-illegal-logging provisions which were opposed by some in the wood industry, who unsuccessfully lobbied between 2009-2012 to have them relaxed. Motivation[edit] Today it is primarily used to prevent the importation or spread of potentially dangerous non-native species.

Amendments[edit] The Lacey Act was amended on May 22, 2008, when the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 expanded its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products (Section 8204. See also[edit] Lacey Act Clarifying Amendments Act of 2013 (H.R. 3280) GovTrack’s Bill Summary We don’t have a summary available yet.

Lacey Act Clarifying Amendments Act of 2013 (H.R. 3280)

Library of Congress Summary The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress. 10/9/2013--Introduced. Lacey Act Clarifying Amendments Act of 2013 - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit such Act from applying to: (1) any plant that was imported into the United States before May 22, 2008, or (2) any finished plant product the assembly and processing of which was completed before May 22, 2008.

House Republican Conference Summary The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives. No summary available. House Democratic Caucus Summary The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills. So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available.