Bruce Westerman: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the only rule or the only science that this bill would maybe not…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the only rule or the only science that this bill would maybe not hold up to is the political science that is being pushed back and forth in this Chamber today. If you look at real wildlife management, we know that maintaining healthy populations of wolves also affects other species. I would say if you could talk to an elk or a deer, you might ask them if a wolf is a violent killer or talk to somebody's cattle because they do kill. They are apex predators. We need them in the ecosystem, but we have to manage those numbers. Just because a species hasn't been recovered in its native range doesn't mean that that species should be on the endangered species list. If that were so, we would have black bear and elk on the endangered species list. The real science data shows that delisting the wolf and letting States manage the wolf population, and we are not talking about wiping out the wolf population, we are talking about maintaining it at healthy levels, that is what would be best for the wolf and for all others concerned. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Hageman).”