Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat) for their leadership on this legislation here today and previous to this. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7954, the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2020. It is bipartisan legislation that I introduced with my Democratic colleague and friend from California, Brad Sherman, as a companion to legislation that Senator Portman introduced previously in the Senate. I want to thank Senator Portman. He has been a longtime leader on this topic, and it makes a lot of sense. It is really common sense. It helps so many people all across the globe. Tropical forests and coral reefs are some of the most biologically diverse and environmentally important ecosystems anywhere. Today, however, whether it is deforestation or pollution or overfishing or some other cause, these vital natural resources are threatened across the globe. Now, many tropical forests and coral reefs are located in the developing world where economic realities can often get in the way of the conservation. It is in the best interest of the whole world to protect and responsibly manage these resources. That is why I introduced H.R. 7954. This legislation builds on our work on the Tropical Forest Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2018 and the Tropical Forest Conservation Act back in 1998, so this is 22 years ago.…”