Political Quotes

“Today, I offer an amendment that will de-list the lesser prairie chicken from the list of threatened species over a period of at least 5 years. This time will allow the five States in the prairie chicken's range to implement their joint rangewide plan, which has been endorsed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Again, this does not permanently de-list the lesser prairie chicken. If in 5 years' time the Department of Interior thinks this plan hasn't worked, they can begin the process of re-listing the chicken. I am confident, however, though, that the rangewide plan will be effective not only in maintaining but in increasing the population of the lesser prairie chicken. The second portion of my amendment would de-list the American burying beetle. Since being deemed endangered in the 1980s, the beetle's population has skyrocketed well beyond the targets set in the Fish and Wildlife's own recovery plan. Military installations are among the entities that have to ensure their new development projects do not infringe on the habitats of these endangered species. Any military exercises that would take place on critical habitat also must meet those requirements before they can commence. It is highly inappropriate for such exercises critical to national defense readiness to be dependent on a bureaucratic process, especially given the large populations and State-level plans for these two species.…”