John Chenoweth: “I would like to identify with the remarks of my colleagues tonight on the very heavy issue of Kosovo. However, Madam…”

“I would like to identify with the remarks of my colleagues tonight on the very heavy issue of Kosovo. However, Madam Speaker, I am going to turn our attention back clear across to this side of the globe and to Washington, D.C. because, Madam Speaker, it is with great alarm that I ask my colleagues to join me in asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide immediate and emergency protection for the Tidal Basin beaver. Over 200 years ago General George Washington chopped down a cherry tree. Now, had General Washington had this happen at this time in his life, and a little later on, and if he lived today, he would have been disgraced in the nightly news, his wife trapped and hauled off, with his child being pursued by trappers. I do not think this is the way to go, Mr. Speaker. It is time that we stand up and stop this pitiful removal of Bucky, the beaver. When you remove an indigenous species the effects are longstanding, and these beaver have made their pilgrimage back to their homeland where their ancestors once frolicked. They built dams and raised their families. The cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin are not even native to the District of Columbia, they were imported from Japan. These beaver are indigenous to this area. This is their natural habitat. These beaver are also an important part of the ecology in the District of Columbia and its unique environment.”