PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 21, 2002
Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 2002 - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to grant limited permission for a marine mammal to be exported from the United States, including in cases where an Indian, Aleut or Eskimo residing in Alaska exports the animal as part of a cultural exchange.Requires reduction plans to track the number of animals from strategic stocks being incidentally lethally taken or seriously injured each year through recreational fishing (in addition to commercial fishing), and to publish proposals for reducing such incidents within a stock under certain specified conditions.Requires research on the removal and control of nuisance pinnipeds, including on the development of new technologies to deter such creatures.Authorizes appropriations for the Marine Mammal Commission through FY 2007.Renews the Scrimshaw Exemption for the eight-year period beginning October 31, 1999.Permits emergency assistance to tow a whale captured in a legal traditional subsistence whale hunt off the coast of Alaska if a request for such assistance is made by a federally-recognized subsistence whale hunting organization or by a member of such an organization.Directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for importation of polar bear parts (other than internal organs) from bears taken in sport hunts in Canada before February 18, 1997 (the previous date was April 30, 1994).Makes it unlawful for anyone under U.S. jurisdiction to release any captive marine mammal unless authorized under specified provisions of the Code.
People & committees
Rep. Gilchrest, Wayne T. [R-MD-1] · R–MD
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee (Amended) by Voice Vote.
Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Executive Comment Received from Interior.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans.
Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.4781 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.4781 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.4781 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.4781 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.