On the recordApril 17, 2012
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise today in support of H.R. 4089, the Sportsmen's Heritage Act of 2012, a bill that will protect hunting and fishing on public lands and preserve the use of traditional ammunition and fishing tackle. I am an avid hunter and sportsman. In fact, I'm a life member of Safari Club International and my life member number is 17. I began coming to Washington, D.C., as a volunteer advocate for hunting and fishing rights and for gun owners' rights and responsible conservation. I'm also honored to be a life member of the National Rifle Association. I know the importance of ensuring that our hunters' and our anglers' rights are protected, as well as ensuring the sustainability of wildlife. This legislation is a compilation of four pro-hunting, -shooting, and -fishing bills offered by my friends Jeff Miller of Florida, Don Young of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and Dr. Dan Benishek of Michigan. I commend all of them for their great work on this issue. I am also pleased to say that I cosponsored all of their legislation. Of note, I would like to personally thank Dr. Benishek for allowing me to amend his portion of the bill, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage Opportunities Act, that we marked up in our Natural Resources Committee. In this Congress, as I have done in the past two Congresses, I introduced H.R. 1444, legislation that would require that hunting activities be considered as a land use in all management plans for Federal land.…





