Pete Stauber: “I want to just rebut my colleague from California. He put up a picture, a devastating picture, alleging that Republicans…”

“I want to just rebut my colleague from California. He put up a picture, a devastating picture, alleging that Republicans would do that to an animal. I utterly reject that type of behavior on the House floor, and he knows better. I thank my colleague from Colorado for bringing H.R. 764, the Trust the Science Act, to the House floor for consideration. This legislation would have an enormously positive impact on my State of Minnesota where the gray wolf population has more than recovered. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources estimates Minnesota's gray wolf population to be roughly around 2,700, which greatly exceeds the Endangered Species Act recovery goal for the State. {time} 1430 However, many experts, hunters, and farmers with boots on the ground estimate the real number to be anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000. The majority of Minnesota's gray wolf population resides in the district I represent in northern Minnesota, placing the burden directly on the people I represent. In the meetings I have held throughout my district, I am constantly hearing from my constituents who are fed up with the dramatic rise in the wolf population. Whether it is the hunters who have been reporting low deer numbers, farmers and ranchers who have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of livestock, or grief-stricken families whose pets have been killed by a gray wolf, the overall consensus is that something needs to change.…”