Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation by my colleague from northern California, Representative Josh Harder. This bill would reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act through 2030. This will benefit Maryland, Louisiana, and California, enabling them to manage and eradicate this destructive, invasive species. The chairman described a little bit about the nutria and how it came to the United States. The reason it is such a problem is it breeds very rapidly, has destructive tendencies towards native wetland vegetation, which has led to erosion and displacement of native species. It can lead to levee breaches and the introduction of diseases and parasites that threaten humans, livestock, and pets. These effects pose severe threats to our national wetlands which are essential habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife and which act as buffers from extreme weather events. To give you an example, according to estimates, had measures not been adopted to control and eradicate the species in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, nutria could have destroyed 17 percent of the bay's marshes in just 50 years. In 2003, the Nutria Eradication and Control Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to Maryland and Louisiana for a program to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland that they had damaged.…”