The killing of a lion in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist that sparked worldwide outrage this week is something Congress could use to pass legislation with 65 cosponsors that has already been advanced by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The panel last month approved of the Global Anti-Poaching Act, a bill introduced in May by Committee Chair Ed Royce (R-Calif.). The Congressional Budget Office scored the legislation on Tuesday–the same day that news of Cecil the Lion’s slaying went viral.
The proposal, the CBO predicted, would cost roughly $1 million annually between next year and 2020. It would greenlight “security assistance to counter wildlife trafficking in Africa” and could be used by this administration and the next to finance “training, communications and other equipment, and uniforms.”
According to the bill’s current language, it would prohibit assistance to “a unit of a security force” deemed by the executive branch to be involved in “wildlife trafficking or poaching.”
During the June mark-up, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) praised the bill but said he had concerns it could, as written, have unintended consequences.
“We don’t want to see US forces entangled in combat activities as a result of fighting poaching. That’s, in essence, a declaration of war. We don’t want to do something like that by accident,” he said, offering an amendment.
“When it comes to war, I think we have to use belt and suspenders,” he added.
Royce responded in opposition, saying that it was redundant under the War Powers Act. He also stated that an explicit prohibition on warfighting could cast aid efforts into disrepute.
“Given the possible sensitivities surrounding our assistance in Africa, I’m not sure that this type of language does not raise suspicions about our activities,” he said. “We want African countries taking advantage of this assistance.”
He also described the bill as “typical of the type of security assistance that this committee supports on a routine basis without this concern.”
Royce said he appreciated Grayson’s sentiments and offered to have a colloquy on the House floor with him to explicitly lay out legislative intent without the statutory prohibition on war powers. The Democrat agreed and subsequently withdrew his amendment.
On Tuesday, The Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force reported that Walter James Palmer, a dentist from Eden Prairie, Minn., paid $50,000 to track and kill a beloved protected lion. Palmer responded that he “deeply regret[s]” the act, but claimed it was legal.
People around the world responded on social media under the hashtag #CecilTheLion to inveigh against Palmer, who Zimbabwean officials have indicted on poaching charges, according to the AP.
An analysis by the Nairobi-based African Network for Animal Welfare published last Tuesday cast doubt on the idea that poaching can be stopped by efforts on the continent alone.
“African leaders have to, with one accord, take it upon themselves, first to do their part, and then lobby the world’s largest markets for animal products poached from Africa–China and The United States, to shut down their markets,” the group said.
