On the recordJuly 7, 2015
I am glad that my colleague from Minnesota acknowledged that it is required under the law for Fish and Wildlife Service to do these 5-year reviews. I thank her for admitting that. Their budget is approximately $1.4 billion, and they are able to prioritize within that $1.4 billion where they spend their resources. It is not Congress' fault. They just haven't made it a priority. They should make it a priority to follow the law. They can do these few hundred reviews every year out of $1.4 billion, I am sure. I would ask my colleagues to support this amendment. Let's require this agency to follow the laws that are on the books. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I want to be really clear. This bill now includes a 50 percent cut to the listing program. The listing program is money that Congress puts in it to do the reviews. Congress cut it by 50 percent. They can't just transfer money around. We have handcuffed and tied up the Fish and Wildlife Service by the amount of funding that Congress gives them to do their job. They don't wake up in the morning and say: We don't want to follow the law. They wake up in the morning, and they see how much Congress has appropriated them.
