PAW Against Trafficking Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
Protecting All Wildlife Against Trafficking Act or the PAW Against Trafficking Act
This bill sets forth requirements to provide warnings to travelers about wildlife trafficking (e.g., poaching and the illegal trade in wildlife) in foreign countries and reestablishes the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking.
Specifically, the bill makes permanent the requirement for the Department of State to identify certain countries that are major sources, transit points, or consumers of wildlife trafficking products. Additionally, the State Department, on any State Department website or web-based application providing country-specific information for international travel, must ensure that such countries are clearly identified with a warning label along with a warning that international law or U.S. law may prohibit the export, import, purchase, sale, possession, or transport of products produced from endangered or threatened wildlife.
In addition, the bill revises the duties of the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking. Among other duties, the task force must assess how consumption of illegally tracked wildlife in the United States may be driving illegal wildlife trafficking in such countries. The task force must also identify potential strategies to reduce domestic consumption of illegally trafficked wildlife products.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 2, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 9, 2020: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) introduced it on March 2, 2020, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 2, 2020, 2383 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2376 days ago, on March 9, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers