Niki Tsongas: “I join Ranking Member Grijalva in opposing this legislation and urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' For 45 years, the…”

“I join Ranking Member Grijalva in opposing this legislation and urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' For 45 years, the Endangered Species Act has served as one of our Nation's bedrock environmental statutes. The bald eagle, the American alligator, and the gray whale are just a few examples of iconic species that have recovered from the brink of extinction thanks to the Endangered Species Act. Despite its widely recognized success and broad support across State and party lines, today, the House is seeking to pass yet another bill that undermines this bedrock environmental law and causes irreparable harm to salmon and steelhead species, species that are already at great risk of extinction, species that play an irreplaceable role in the Pacific Northwest's ecosystem. Their presence benefits more than 130 other species, including the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, whose existence depends upon healthy salmon runs. This is not just about the Pacific Northwest. Any effort to undermine the Endangered Species Act and, thereby, its protections for the species and landscapes that make our country uniquely American impacts us all. Several Federal agencies and courts have determined that dam operations in the Columbia and Snake Rivers cause significant harm to 13 species or populations of salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act.…”