Louie Gohmert: “I rise in support of H.R. 767, the REPAIR Act, as it is called, and yield myself such time as I may consume. I would…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 767, the REPAIR Act, as it is called, and yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to also congratulate and thank my dear friend from Guam. She gives hope to this country and encouragement by showing that there is class and there is graciousness in this body, and it exists in the delegate from Guam. She also carries that out as chairman of the subcommittee. Now, the effectiveness of the REPAIR Act will be in direct proportion to the amount of money Congress allocates. We simply cannot afford to let our wildlife refuges be systematically destroyed by invasive species, and that is happening. This legislation is a positive step because it offers hope in the fight against invasives in the future. One such species is the giant silvinia, a plant that has made its way across many lakes as it has entered Texas. It is a small harmless-looking little aquatic plant that finds itself on boat trailers leaving a lake. When the boat trailer is lowered into another lake, the nightmare floating plant finds itself in a new lake, and it can take over. It doubles its size in less than a week, and in no time covers acres, shutting off sunlight, killing off plants underneath, which results in aquatic life dying. It must be fought and eradicated without doing damage to the lake during the fight. Such a battle takes many good minds and hard workers coming together to prevent this creeping menace from being the last thing left in a lake alive.”