Ted Poe: “I thank the chairman for yielding. I also thank the chairman and ranking member for their work on this very important…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. I also thank the chairman and ranking member for their work on this very important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, around the world, big game like elephant and rhinos are getting slaughtered. Ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 elephants in 3 years. The black rhino population has dropped 95 percent since the early 20th century. In 2007, there were 12 rhinos killed in South Africa; but in 2013 and 2014, over 1,000 were killed each year. Regarding elephants, this is a photograph of one of the oldest elephants in existence. Satao was his name. He was in his forties. He was killed for his tusks. They were so long, they drug on the ground. That is what is happening to the elephant population in Africa. They are killed not for their meat; they are killed for their tusks. Most of the people doing the poaching are really not the locals who poach for an animal to eat. That is not most of the poaching, although that does occur. Most of those doing the poaching are transnational criminal organizations. The criminal groups come from places like China and Vietnam. China is the number one destination for elephant tusks. Vietnam is the number one world destination for rhino horns. Criminal cartels that are involved in this trafficking don't just traffic wildlife. They traffic drugs, weapons, and people. It is all the same group of criminals that are trafficking. They traffic anything for money.…”