On the recordDecember 12, 2012
Today, I rise to talk about a bird, the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Actually, it's not about the bird; it's about jobs. I happen to represent Cassoday, Kansas, the American capital of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. The Environmental Protection Agency and this administration are about to do great harm to the bird but, more importantly, present great risk to energy exploration all across America. They want to put the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. The impact of this decision will be enormous on our burgeoning domestic energy industry. Millions of public acres could be closed to exploration, and a labyrinth of bureaucratic nightmares awaits any investor foolish enough to explore land that might be home to even one Lesser Prairie Chicken. The uncertainty that listing this bird would create will discourage investments where they are most needed in our country. It's time to find a practical, realistic solution to protect our environment and spur economic growth, but manipulating the Endangered Species Act and exploiting the Lesser Prairie Chicken is simply wrong. ____________________
