Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5001, introduced by my Natural Resources Committee colleague, Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado. This bipartisan bill will reauthorize two programs that are working to recover threatened and endangered fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin. This legislation will continue the collaboration work of Tribes, water users, environmental groups, local utilities, and State and Federal agencies that are partnering to recover four fish species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered. These programs provide Endangered Species Act compliance for projects that use water resources from the San Juan River and Upper Colorado River Basins, so that these rare native fish can be recovered while human water use can continue. With the conservation actions undertaken through the recovery programs, one fish was downlisted from endangered to threatened last year, and another fish is under consideration for downlisting to threatened as well. This good work is important, and it should continue. I want to commend my colleague, the chair of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee, Representative Neguse, for his leadership on this bill. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.”