On the recordJuly 13, 2016
You are darn right there are success stories with the ESA. That is because the agency that was designed to implement the laws decided the species were recovered. They delisted them, and they are doing fine. That is why there are so many eagles in this country. That is not what happened with the gray wolf. The scientists at the agency decided that they had recovered. They delisted them, by rule. The courts got involved in D.C.--not in the State where the wolves are, but in D.C.--and said, ``No, we disagree with all the sound science,'' the sound science of the agency, and they took it over. That is why we are here. Congress makes the laws. The executive branch implements the laws. The courts interpret the laws. The agency implemented the law. Using sound science, they found that those wolves should be delisted. And they delisted them by rule. And then D.C. environmental groups went to a D.C. court and said: We don't like the decision. And now, all of a sudden, they are back. Mr. Chairman, this is the way to respond, by law.
