Who is doing their part ? HR 669?

What are you asking exactly?

Breeding animals that are non-native and selling them to individuals as pets can be a very dangerous thing. The minute enough little Timmy's no longer want their pet snakes and decide to 'return' them to the wild, there is the possibility of a serious ecological problem. Non-native species can completely collapse ecosystems, wipe out entire populations and potentially eliminate species that only live in one place.

Read about rabbits in Australia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia

the brown tree snake in Guam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_tree_snake

or the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_perch

Same thing is true of plants, check out Milfoil http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/mil...

and all of these others:

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/main.sht...

None of these species were introduced with the intention of wiping out an ecosystem- some were introduced as food items for the people living there, some were accidental.

I think that people should be made much more responsible when they take on exotic pets and plants and a good, stiff penalty should be enforced if they break the rules. I don't think things should be banned, per se, just more regulated. Some pet owners are stupid. You know this as you're a top contributor in the Reptile section. They need to be educated on how to care for their exotics, what to do with them should they decide they no longer want them and what not to do to protect the environment. Perhaps a required course or certificate or maybe a permit (as you see with wild animal caretakers) would make things safer. Certainly the writers should also take into account the climate of the states and adjust which species are to be restricted where, as- for example- no tropical fish, snake or bird is going to survive a New England winter and live long enough to take over. They should also consider the requirements of each species, to assess if they even could potentially be a problem if they were released or abandoned.

Will you explain HR 669?? Then we might be able to answer better.