Political Quotes

“neither myself nor the ranking Democratic member of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), have objected to H. Con. Res. 275. The nonbinding resolution of the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), chairman of the committee, seeks to expand the hunting season for mourning doves in the United States. As I have stated during consideration of the resolution in the Committee on Resources and again at yesterday's meeting of the Committee on Rules, the nonbinding context of the resolution does not make this a contentious matter at all. Nevertheless, if a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, I think it is worth repeating that even if this legislation were to pass, several important issues would have to be addressed nationally and internationally before the intent of the resolution becomes reality. Amending the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the underlying Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds would not be routine. In fact, no one should underestimate the potential difficulties. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the underlying Convention agreed to by the United States and Great Britain in 1916 are two of our Nation's earliest and most enduring conservation agreements; and, as I have noted in previous discussion, the Convention and MBTA has been amended only once since 1916, and that change was to allow for the subsistence taking of birds and eggs in Alaska and northern Canada.”