Bruce Westerman: “Thank you for being here. And welcome everyone to Hot Springs, which is also my hometown.”

The Endangered Species Act has consistently failed to achieve its intended goals and has been warped by decades of radical environmental litigation into a weapon instead of a tool.

I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

I commend the Trump administration for these balanced reforms and for reminding us all that the E.S.A. was written to enrich wildlife habitat, not lawyers.

There’s always the appeals process in the courts, so that’s certainly not settled.