Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Harder's legislation, which would reauthorize the nutria eradication program at existing funding levels through 2030. This bill is identical to the one passed in the House during the last week of the 118th Congress. Unfortunately, it failed to receive a vote in the Senate. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak again in support of this important legislation. Nutria are invasive rodents native to South America that were imported to the United States in 1899 for fur production. Since then, the nutria population has exploded in places like northern California, Oregon, and the Louisiana bayous, as well as the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore ecosystems. These rodents eat, dig, and trample healthy wetland habitats, causing significant erosion and habitat damage to native ecosystems. When this legislation was first enacted in 2003, an estimated 70 percent of the Chesapeake Bay's marshlands had already been destroyed by nutria. Due to the aid of this program, nutria eradication efforts have been very successful. For example, in Maryland, they have been declared eradicated. In Louisiana, where more than 432,000 acres were damaged or destroyed by nutria from 2002 to 2021, over 5 million nutria have been taken. Passing the legislation would allow these successful efforts to continue.…”