Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, the Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act of 2025, because communities in California and across the country are in a war right now against these giant swamp rats. My bill would reauthorize funding to strengthen eradication efforts for the invasive swamp rats, nutria, which are destroying our levees, harming local farmland, and infecting our very drinking water. These 40-pound monsters are larger than the average dog. They eat 25 percent of their body weight every day and can reproduce 200 offspring every single year. In 2023 alone, 78 percent of the nutria found in California were in newly infested areas, threatening our entire way of life. The only way to stop their spreading invasion is to support local eradication and control efforts. In 2020, I was proud to work with President Trump to bring nutria eradication funding to California for the first time ever. Now, the funding is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year, right when we need it most. This comes at a time when our district is at a breaking point with nutria control efforts. Last year, more than 1,300 nutria were captured in California, which is a record-breaking year for takings in the State. We must reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 to ensure States like California, Louisiana, and Florida are able to effectively curb the spread of this swamp rat once and for all.…”