Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan bill would accomplish what multiple administrations have been attempting to do for over a decade by delisting a species the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has deemed recovered under the Endangered Species Act. It also empowers the States to take a larger role in managing the species population. The gray wolf has been protected in its original habitat in the western Great Lakes region under the Endangered Species Act since 1974. Beginning in 1994, the Federal Government began introducing species to the Western U.S. by relocating wolves from Canada and releasing them in Western States. The reintroduced wolf population in the West expanded more quickly than many had anticipated, and as a result, Western States began to work with the Fish and Wildlife Service to better manage the species. This successful State and Federal cooperation led to the Fish and Wildlife Service's first attempt to delist the species under the Endangered Species Act in 2009. Litigation activists struck back, challenging the agency's delisting decision and halting further agency action at that time. In 2014, the Fish and Wildlife Service, after noting an even greater increase in species population, attempted to once again delist the gray wolf. Just as before, litigants immediately challenged the agency's decision.…”