H.R. 6513

119 HR 6513 IH: Minks In Narrowly Kept Spaces are Superspreaders Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-12-09
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 6513  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   December 9, 2025   Mr. Buchanan  (for himself and  Ms. DeLauro ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Agriculture    A BILL
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the captivity of mink, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Minks In Narrowly Kept Spaces are Superspreaders Act   or the   MINKS are Superspreaders Act  .
2.
Prohibition on captivity of mink
The Animal Welfare Act is amended by inserting after section 19 ( 7 U.S.C. 2149 ) the following:
20.
Prohibition on captivity of mink
(a)
In general
Except as provided in subsection (b), no person shall transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or breed or possess, any American mink (Neovison vison) raised in captivity for fur production, whether dead or alive, or any part, product, or offspring thereof.
(b)
Exception
Subsection (a) does not apply to an entity described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (E) of section 3(e)(2) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 ( 16 U.S.C. 3372(e)(2) ).
(c)
Buy-Out of mink farms
(1)
In general
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall seek to purchase privately owned mink farms for an amount determined under paragraph (2).
(2)
Amount
In determining an amount to offer a mink farmer to purchase the applicable mink farm pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into account—
(A)
the most recent 3-year average of the number of mink owned by the mink farmer; and
(B)
the infrastructure value of the mink farm.
 .