Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am introducing the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act which will work to protect threatened or endangered species, reduce human rights violations, and limit the illegal operations of international criminal organizations. This bill is a bipartisan and bicameral effort, sponsored in the House of Representatives by Representative Madeleine Bordallo and Representative Don Young, and I look forward to growing its support in the Senate. Conservation violations and wildlife trafficking offenses are a global problem threatening biodiversity and animal welfare and facilitating significant criminal operations. Tackling this broad problem is complicated and compounded by insufficient penalties for offenders and the difficulty of maintaining U.S.-oversight on the global level. This bill proposes to address these concerns by criminalizing elements of wildlife-trafficking operations under Federal racketeering and organized crime statutes. Classifying wildlife-trafficking crimes as ``predicate offenses'' under the Money Laundering Statute, Travel Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act enables prosecutors to administer substantial fines and prison-time for violations. The bill recognizes the value of whistleblowers' information to direct investigations into wildlife-trafficking violations.…”