Neil Abercrombie: “I, too, with the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton], rise to support H.R. 39, the African Elephant Conservation…”

“I, too, with the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Saxton], rise to support H.R. 39, the African Elephant Conservation Reauthorization Act of 1997. I might take a moment, Mr. Speaker, to ask the Chamber to reflect on the fact that not only does Mr. Saxton support this resolution but the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Gingrich, the gentleman from Alaska, Mr. Young, myself and the gentleman from California, Mr. Miller, all support it. I do not know if we are ever going to achieve that position again. We may want to pause for a moment of silence at this point, reverence for the question of bipartisanship. It surely can take place and it does take place over the African elephant. I think we could probably extend that to the donkey and the elephant in the United States, but I am not sure about the former as opposed to the latter. In any event, Mr. Speaker, it is the African Elephant Conservation Reauthorization Act, and it is literally deadly serious business we are about on this floor today. I support the African Elephant Conservation Act and its purpose in perpetuating healthy populations of African elephants. I am concerned that other U.S. funded programs that may impact the African elephant may not be working towards this purpose as expressed by the act. I hope that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Agency for International Development will work cooperatively towards the ends of African elephant conservation.”