Legislation

I think I am excited about the three bills that we are taking up today.

I also have cosponsored the Simplifying Grants Act, which would require Government agencies to simplify the difficult process.

I have helped introduce the Rebuilding Rural Roads Act, which Congressman Finstad from southern Minnesota and I lead.

If we had a say in the final bill, we probably wouldn't have had so many discretionary grant programs.

So, it is really not about a species, it is about habitat. And this bill is focused on restoring habitat, not somehow magically waving a wand and recovering a species. It all comes back to habitat.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I am grateful for all of the work that has gone into this bill, and more particularly for the discussions that I have had with Chairman Westerman in developing this legislation.

I cannot support the America's Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act because, simply put, it doesn't meet the recommendations laid out by the blue ribbon panel.

I am proud to co-sponsor this important legislation to promote habitat conservation from the ground up.

The moral of the story here is this bill would pull back hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for wildlife and habitat conservation.

We know for sure that under this bill there are going to be some cuts: $1.4 billion rescinded from the IRA and IIJA.

I would like to enter into the record a stack of pretend money, we affectionately call it 'Bruce bucks,' as evidence of the actual value of the investments from this legislation.

To be clear, that is not exactly true. This bill doesn't invest anything because it doesn't appropriate any additional money.

The most compelling reason to support H.R. 7408 is the urgency that we see every single day on the landscape.

I must disagree today that the America's Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act is the best approach.

It passed with bipartisan support in the 117th Congress.

The bill imposes congressional oversight on the expenditure of taxpayer money.

This legislation would invest in state wildlife programs such as congressionally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans.

This bill that we are considering today is all we got.