# 119-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.

119-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., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK); status in_committee (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6251
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6251
- Congress: 119
- Title: 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.
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-11-21
- Sponsor: Rep. Begich, Nicholas J. [R-AK-At Large] (R-AK)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Animals
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## Summary

**Creates a narrow permit pathway for importing Canadian polar bear trophies taken before specific historic dates.** It would let people with proof of legal harvest from before Feb. 18, 1997, or from before May 15, 2008 for eligible populations, apply to import most polar bear parts and get permits quickly. - Hunters and private importers: People who can prove they legally harvested a polar bear before Feb. 18, 1997, or before May 15, 2008 for populations covered under existing rules, would be eligible to receive permits to import parts other than internal organs. - Federal administration: The Secretary of the Interior would be required to issue those permits expeditiously after the applicable 30-day period and could exempt them from several standard regulatory requirements and certain statutory sections for the specified pre-dating imports. - Rule and eligibility effect: The bill keeps the general import prohibition but creates a limited, mechanics-based carve-out that relies on historic-harvest proof and references existing eligibility rules under 50 C.F.R. §18.30(i) for the pre-2008 pathway.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-GA), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smucker, Lloyd [R-PA-11] (R-PA), 2026-06-08T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Import permits for some polar bear trophies: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to quickly issue permits to import most polar bear parts taken in Canadian sport hunts for people who show proof they personally and legally harvested the bear before the listed dates. The two allowed harvest dates are before February…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3633: Digital Asset Market Clarity Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7008: Stop Insider Trading Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-6251 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6251)

## Related
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-3633: Digital Asset Market Clarity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3633)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-21: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-21)
- [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422)
- [119-hr-7008: Stop Insider Trading Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7008)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6251 (as of 2026-09-21).