,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #feac  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #i1        
#bjbe,mr4 ,buchanan 7for himself and    
,ms4 ,de,lauro7 introduced the following
 bill2 which was referred to the        
,committee on ,agriculture  ,a ,,bill   
,to amend the ,animal ,welfare ,act to  
prohibit the captivity of mink1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,minks ,in     
,narrowly ,kept ,spaces are             
,superspreaders ,act or the ,,minks are 
,superspreaders ,act4  #b4 ,prohibition 
on captivity of mink ,the ,animal       
,welfare ,act is amended by inserting   
after section #ai 7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #badi7  
the following3  #bj4 ,prohibition on    
captivity of mink  7a7 ,in general      
,except as provided in subsection 7b71  
no person shall transport1 sell1        
receive1 acquire1 or purchase in        
interstate or foreign commerce1 or breed
 or possess1 any ,american mink         
7,neovison vison7 raised in captivity   

for fur production1 whether dead or     
alive1 or any part1 product1 or         
offspring thereof4  7b7 ,exception      
,subsection 7a7 does not apply to an    
entity described in any of subparagraphs
 7,a7 through 7,e7 of section #c7;e77#b7
 of the ,lacey ,act ,amendments of #aiha
 7#af ,u4,s4,c4 #ccgb7;e77#b774  7c7    
,buy-,out of mink farms  7#a7 ,in       
general ,subject to the availability of 
appropriations1 the ,secretary shall    
seek to purchase privately owned mink   
farms for an amount determined under    
paragraph 7#b74  7#b7 ,amount ,in       
determining an amount to offer a mink   
farmer to purchase the applicable mink  
farm pursuant to paragraph 7#a71 the    
,secretary shall take into account--    
7,a7 the most recent #c-year average of 
the number of mink owned by the mink    
farmer2 and  7,b7 the infrastructure    
value of the mink farm4  4