Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman. I am glad to be here today in support of H.R. 4315 and to emphasize the point that this is not just a Western thing. We certainly hear a lot about Oregon's northern spotted owl, about California's delta smelt, and we have heard about--the lesser prairie chicken has been cited, but I doubt many of you have heard about the rabbitsfoot mussel. I have a map here that indicates the range of the rabbitsfoot mussel, and I can assure you the folks in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Missouri have become very well familiar with the rabbitsfoot mussel. {time} 1600 What the critical habitat designation proposal could do, and certainly in States like Arkansas where 70 percent of Arkansas' rivers and streams would be impacted, it would have a direct and costly impact on farmers and ranchers and municipalities who rely on those waterways for drinking water, private landowners and local governments who are trying to build and improve roads and bridges, and small and large businesses across the State of Arkansas that use water in manufacturing the products that help keep Americans employed. The 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act will go a long way to bringing some common sense and sanity back to the protection of vulnerable species, and that is what we should be about.”