Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), introduced the Targeted Use of Sanctions for Killing Elephants in their Range (TUSKER) Act on September 11, a bill to impose trade sanctions on countries that facilitate ivory trafficking. In introducing the legislation, DeFazio said “As many as 40,000 elephants were slaughtered in 2013 alone for their tusks and over 1,000 park rangers have been killed trying to protect endangered wildlife. The illegal wildlife trade funds the operations of gun, drug and human trafficking crime syndicates. It also funds extremely dangerous terrorist groups that threaten regional stability in Africa and national security in the United States. We need to choke off the access to the market.”