Jared Huffman: “I thank the gentleman and associate myself with his opening remarks about this wrongheaded proposed amendment. We…”

“I thank the gentleman and associate myself with his opening remarks about this wrongheaded proposed amendment. We debated this last year. It failed on this floor with 278 ``no'' votes to 193 ``yes'' votes. Twenty-five Republicans voted ``no,'' but here we are again. Our friend from Arizona apparently thinks he knows more than our Department of Defense because they are not asking for this. Nevertheless, he thinks they should have it. Since the enactment of the Endangered Species Act over 50 years ago, the ESA has provided the framework for the U.S. Government's policy on endangered species. All agencies of the Federal Government, including Defense, should conserve threatened endangered species. It works just fine with the Department of Defense. This amendment undermines that commitment by amending the ESA to simply exclude an entire sector of our economy, the Department of Defense, from any requirements under the ESA. There is zero evidence that the ESA is negatively impacting military activities. In fact, the Department of Defense has a long history of working successfully to bring back endangered species from the brink of extinction. In fact, according to DOD, protecting military lands for endangered species is a critical piece of military readiness and training. For example, wildlife conservation on Army installations helps preserve rare natural landscapes necessary for the Army's training.…”