Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chairman, my amendment increases the law enforcement budget for America's national wildlife refuges by $2.4 million to match the President's budget request. The plus-up would be fully offset from the account relating to the Office of the Secretary.

Mr. Chairman, America's national wildlife refuges encompass millions and millions of acres of public conservation lands and waters that provide endless opportunities for families to fish and enjoy the great outdoors. Our wildlife refuges are extremely popular, with over 48 million visitors annually, but many folks do not know they are suffering from a serious shortfall in law enforcement protection.

In May of 2015, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommended substantial increases to law enforcement resources for our national wildlife refuges. The report detailed the urgent need for officers to counter nefarious activities like drug production and smuggling, wildlife poaching, illegal border activity, assaults, and a variety of natural resource violations.

This is consistent with what I hear at home in the Tampa Bay area. I represent the Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge. It is part of a massive 30,000-acre national wildlife refuge complex, the Chassahowitzka on the west coast of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico. That 30,000 acres has two law enforcement officers assigned to it, and this is a busy, busy tourist area. People really enjoy the wildlife refuges, but they are really suffering from a lot of nefarious activities.

We need these additional funds, and with the additional funds, the Service should prioritize hiring additional Federal wildlife officers to serve the urban refuges and obtain equipment that is necessary to protect the resources and protect the visitors.

In 2014, Service Federal wildlife officers managed over 42,000 service-related incidents, crimes, and request for services. That was a 20 percent increase from 2013, which included rapes, robberies, kidnappings, assaults, burglaries, larcenies, motor vehicle thefts, natural resource violations, timber thefts, arsons, trespassing, poaching, hunting and fishing violations, undocumented person apprehensions. In 2015, there were over 306 serious incidents reported, a 6 percent increase over the previous year.

My home State of Florida is blessed with beautiful bays and rivers and coastline. We have the most wildlife refuges in the country, with 29, including the three in Tampa Bay: The beautiful Egmont Key Wildlife Refuge, Pinellas, and Passage Key. These are areas we have to protect, and we have to protect the visitors that enjoy our wildlife refuges.

The number of visitors is increasing every year, and we can't ignore the shortage of law enforcement officers anymore. This is an ongoing shortage that must be addressed. I urge my colleagues to address this important public safety issue and adopt the Castor amendment.

I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate Chairman Calvert's comments, but I can speak from personal experience. Our local law enforcement officers are overworked and often not equipped to handle the concerns on our national wildlife refuges. This is a Federal responsibility, to protect these conservation lands, to protect the visitors who are hunting and fishing who are sometimes disturbing natural resource areas.

I mean, look at that list. It is really surprising: rapes and robberies and kidnappings and assaults. We can do better than this. We have to do everything we can to keep our neighbors safe at home and to protect our natural lands.

I urge adoption of the Castor amendment so that we can address this important public safety issue.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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