OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020

Floor Speech

Date: June 20, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Animals and Wildlife

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Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment. For my constituents and my area, it is very important to them.

The amendment would prohibit permits for hunting and killing endangered lions and elephants for trophies in various countries in Africa--Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania.

Both the African elephant and lion are endangered species on the verge of extinction. We have seen lion populations decline by 50 percent in the past decade. In Tanzania, the elephant population declined by 60 percent between 2009 and 2014.

This amendment is critical to help ensure these creatures do not become extinct. President Trump has called elephant hunting a ``horror show.''

There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that trophy hunting aids in helping to manage the population of these animals. If this were the case, we would see an increase in the species, not a dramatic decline of the elephant and lion populations.

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Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), my co-chair of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus.

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Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the chairwoman of the subcommittee.

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Mr. BUCHANAN. Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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