Political Quotes

“This week, the House will be advancing solutions to some significant issues that are facing this Nation. Among those, I rise today to discuss one of those, a piece of legislation set for consideration by the House later this week, H.R. 4315, the Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act. It is a package of reform bills that will modernize and improve the Endangered Species Act. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was first enacted to protect and recover key domestic species that are under threat of distinction. Although the ESA was written with the best of intentions, areas of the law hinder, rather than enhance, our ability to effectively manage ecosystems and conserve species as initially intended. Today, the law is failing, failing to achieve its primary purpose of species recovery and has only a 2 percent recovery rate. In April, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced this package of bills through committee with support from both sides of the aisle. As a member of the House Endangered Species Act Working Group, which developed the findings and recommendations for these proposals, I encourage my colleagues to support these reforms that promote greater transparency and accountability under the Endangered Species Act, while ensuring the ecological and economic needs of our local communities are being met. ____________________”