Lincoln Chafee: “I have introduced this amendment to H.R. 1420, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 on behalf of…”

“I have introduced this amendment to H.R. 1420, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 on behalf of myself, Senator Kempthorne, and Senator Graham. This bill recently passed the House by the remarkable vote of 407 to 1. Last week, I, along with Senators Kempthorne and Graham, introduced S. 1059 as a companion bill, and on July 30, the Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing to solicit views on this bill from the Secretary of the Interior, among others. The hearing was very productive, and reaffirmed the widespread support that exists for this legislation. The amendment that I am offering includes narrow, but important, changes to the House version that clarify several provisions, and that have been agreed to by the administration, the House Resources Committee, and the stakeholders involved in the earlier negotiations. This legislation is long overdue and very much needed. The National Wildlife Refuge System was started in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, with the establishment of the first refuge on Pelican Island in Florida.”