Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio). Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chairman, actually, I think wolves are part of wildlife. I heard a mention of Montana Yellowstone. Actually, in Yellowstone, the rivers were in horrible, horrible condition because all of the browse that was being done by elk and other critters right down into the streams. Fish populations were crashing. The water was too hot and lost all of the riparian cover. Now you find we have restored balance because there are wolves there and the elk and others stay in herds and they stay in the forest. They don't go down and stomp around in the streams. Natural balance is sometimes problematic. The gentlewoman showed a picture of a moose under attack. Fairly natural. I don't believe that that is the total cause for the problems with the moose population. In fact, those moose are still hunted. So I guess we need to save the moose from the wolves so the hunters can hunt the moose. So I am on the side of the wolves on this one. I think most American people would like to see this iconic predator restore balance. Coyotes are three times the predators on cattle. If you want to protect cattle, guess what. Wolves kill coyotes. But when you don't have wolves, the coyotes spread and take over. The gentlewoman showed Russia and China and then Canada and a few other areas on a map. Those aren't gray wolf populations in many of those areas.…”