Sheila Jackson Lee: “I have a letter from the Humane Society that I will include in the Record, along with an article regarding polar bear…”

“I have a letter from the Humane Society that I will include in the Record, along with an article regarding polar bear hunting. The Humane Society of the United States, February 24, 2016 Hon. Sheila Jackson Lee, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Rep. Jackson Lee: The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Humane Society International strongly support your amendment to H.R. 2406, the so-called ``Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act of 2015.'' This harmful legislation contains a variety of provisions that threaten wildlife, including one that would allow U.S. trophy hunters to import the heads and hides of threatened polar bears from Canada. Your amendment to strike this language sends a strong message that our country should be protecting vulnerable species, not carving out exceptions for the small fraction of the hunting public that travels the globe to kill its most majestic creatures. Title III of H.R. 2406 would weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act by permitting the importation of trophies from 41 polar bears killed as the Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule listing them as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The wealthy trophy hunters that shot these bears had full knowledge of the pending rule, and knew that U.S. law would likely prohibit them from bringing back their kill. We should not give these hunters a free pass to exploit a regulatory loophole.…”