House GOP Intends To Move Lacey Act Bill; Senators Seek Compromise

摘要

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) aims to bring to the floor in July a bill from Rep. Jim Cooper (R-TN) that would scale back certain provisions of the Lacey Act, according to a memo on the summer legislative agenda circulated by Cantor's office last week. But that bill as currently written faces stiff opposition from both conservation groups and senators such as Ron Wyden (D-OR), one of the principal authors of the 2008 amendments to the Lacey Act which strengthened the law's provisions to combat illegal logging (Inside U.S. Trade, Nov. 11). It also does not go far enough to meet all the demands of importers in terms of changes to the Lacey Act. Wyden is currently working to draft bipartisan compromise legislation on Lacey Act modifications with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), according to congressional and private-sector sources. One source said Wyden and Alexander have made "some progress," but that their talks are still in a preliminary stage.