Congressional Western Caucus
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I rise this afternoon to lead a Special Order alongside my colleagues from the Congressional Western Caucus to discuss important efforts to modernize one of our Nation's bedrock conservation laws that has sorely grown outdated and ineffective.
The Endangered Species Act was signed into law 47 years ago to protect and revitalize species of endangered or threatened animals and wildlife, truly, a worthy goal.
Unfortunately, the ESA has earned a recovery rate of only about 3 percent, a staggering failure to protect the very species that it was intended to aid.
And while it has failed to safeguard those species, the law has been used as a political spearhead for frivolous litigation that threatens private property rights, public land use decisions, local communities, and American jobs.
Fortunately, there are ongoing efforts in the people's House here and within the White House to update and modernize the Endangered Species Act to better protect species, all while treating States, property owners, and local stakeholders as partners rather than obstacles to species conservation.
The Western Caucus recently unveiled a package of 18 bills introduced by members across the rural West and beyond to strengthen the ESA. These bills reflect our intention to bring this arcane law into the 21st century, aiming to create a more comprehensive and streamlined approach to support species recovery while ensuring our communities are not burdened by overregulation and misleading data.
This package includes my legislation, the Weigh Habitats Offsetting Locational Effects Act, to ensure all conservation measures are considered when Federal decisions that impact ESA-listed species are being made.
By establishing a process that considers the totality of conservation efforts, we can incentivize private investment in species recovery, streamline Federal decisionmaking, and promote the comprehensive efforts of States, local communities, and Tribes.
We should not tie our hands when it comes to species recovery. Using the best available science, considering all ongoing conservation measures, streamlining the process for listing decisions, and empowering State and local efforts creates a comprehensive approach to advance species recovery and fulfills the true intent of the Endangered Species Act.
Madam Speaker, with this package of bills, you will hear more from many of my colleagues in the Western Caucus. We are taking a very important step toward truly strengthening the ESA.
The Trump administration has also unveiled improvements to the implementation of ESA regulations developed to increase transparency and effectiveness of the law.
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has rightly focused on updating the administration of ESA to target the areas where resources will do the most good, which, of course, are the direct, on-the-ground conservation measures.
Much like legislation in the Western Caucus package that I and my colleagues have championed, the updates direct listing decisions to be based solely on the best science available as well as commercial information. Only when sound science, not politics, determine conservation measures can we truly begin to turn the tide to achieve successes under the ESA.
The revisions also establish greater certainty for timely decisionmaking by Federal agencies and applicants, therefore providing streamlined actions and coordination for conservation efforts.
With partners like President Trump, Interior Secretary Bernhardt, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director, Aurelia Skipwith, I believe we truly can reverse the abysmal track record currently set under the Endangered Species Act.
Unfortunately, we are seeing efforts right here in the people's House to completely undermine and halt these important steps being taken by the administration. Our conversation this afternoon is quite timely, I believe, because tomorrow the lead Democrat in the House Natural Resources Committee is marking up legislation to thwart the administration's rule to bring more transparency and modernization into the ESA.
Why anyone would be proud of the status quo in which only 3 percent of the species that have been listed under this law have recovered truly does baffle me. That 3 percent is quite the meager report card, so it is disappointing to see so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle advocate for the status quo. I would hope they join me and my colleagues who are working to strengthen this law in order to provide real results, not simply evoking political talking points aimed at appeasing litigious environmental groups.
Madam Speaker, like far too many regulations that come from our Nation's Capitol, relying on top-down decisions from bureaucrats only serves to limit economic prosperity. These decisions have not only negatively impacted local communities, they have done close to nothing to recover and protect threatened animals and wildlife.
I am looking forward to partnering with many of my colleagues from the Western Caucus this afternoon to describe our efforts here in the people's House to finally modernize the Endangered Species Act, something that is far overdue for our wildlife, for our environment, and for all of our communities.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Gianforte), my colleague and good friend, who is a true leader for conservation.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Gianforte; his legislation, the LIST Act, is exactly the kind of update we need. It is a straightforward, science-based tool that equips Fish and Wildlife with exactly the kind of ability to make decisions based on facts regarding listing decisions. I thank the gentleman for his leadership. He is a great spokesman for the State of Montana, and I appreciate his help here this evening.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), my good friend.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Smith, and I appreciate him for sharing some really personal impacts of a law that--can anyone think of another law that has been in place for 47 years without any kind of improvements or changes? It doesn't happen very often.
When we see impacts like that, that impact people's lives--they truly do--not only species that we are trying to protect but the people who are trying to live in concert with those species, it is something that really speaks, I think, to a lot of us. So I thank the gentleman very much for his bill.
The EMPOWER Act, I think, will give a lot of much-needed change and improvement to this process so that States and local communities can have a say. We should have more positive results from the ESA and move forward from that abysmal 3 percent success rate that we should not be proud of.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), my good friend.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Tipton for his comments. I have to say that he just hit the nail right on the head.
The ESA should encourage and incentivize voluntary conservation efforts. Species recovery, habitat recovery agreements, along with private property conservation grants and habitat conservation loan programs for State and local governments, will save money and resources while boosting conservation.
The more we can do this locally, the more we can direct these measures, the more impact they will have on accomplishing what we want from this conserving of species.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this commonsense approach, this collaborative approach that he has taken, and for showing leadership on all of these crucial issues that are important to us in the West and all over the country, to the whole Nation.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), the leader of the Congressional Western Caucus, someone who has shown a true sense of commitment to make the ESA something that it should be, something that is successful that we can all be proud of.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Gosar for being here tonight. He truly has been a leader in this effort to modernize the ESA. I thank him for his commitment to that.
Legislation like he is proposing is going to be a huge step in improving the situation that we have in this country. So, I thank the gentleman for being here, again, very much.
If I could just say, I think it will improve the predictability for endangered species listings and critical habitat designations, but it will also level the playing field by applying the same standards for listing as we do for delisting a species.
If a species is recovered, we should celebrate that. It should be a happy day, something that is a good thing. That is our goal. Then we can remove it from the endangered list so that resources can then be directed toward species that still need to be protected and brought back. It just makes sense.
I think the best example that comes to mind is the gray wolf. We should be celebrating that. They are back, and they are back strong. The science is clear about that. They are recovered, and it should be removed from the list so that we can better come to the aid of other endangered species.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman very much for being here tonight.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my good friend and fellow farmer.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. LaMalfa and have to say that he has been a true leader in the Congressional Western Caucus and in the House of Representatives. It is awesome to be able to have someone contribute as much as the gentleman does that has the experience and the knowledge of how these laws impact real people.
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson), my friend who actually serves on the important, powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I did have the privilege of visiting the gentleman's district and seeing firsthand the Parish Generating Station, a state-of-the-art carbon capture and sequestration facility. It was amazing and truly helped me understand the potential of the technology that we now have at our disposal.
It is that kind of thing that will allow our Nation to truly lead in the American energy renaissance.
Unfortunately, all too often, some of the complications from the bureaucracy get in the way, and things like the ESA can prevent us from reaching our full potential.
I thank the gentleman for his leadership and ensuring that the economic effects are something too that we need to take into account. I appreciate the gentleman's contributions here this evening.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Fifth Congressional District of the great State of Arizona (Mr. Biggs).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman helping us here this evening as we get down to the final few minutes of our hour.
While the thought behind foreign land acquisition in the ESA may have been well-intentioned, we need accountability, and we need to be able to determine whether results are being achieved.
The point the gentleman made about investing in our efforts domestically makes a lot of sense where we can focus on a results- driven approach using science and not emotion. So I thank my friend very much for that thought.
In trying to accommodate schedules, if I may, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) for a few thoughts that he has on this. He is a member of the Western Caucus. We are happy to adopt South Carolina as a Western State.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Norman's thoughts. We should be doing everything in our power to incentivize landowners to be active participants in conservation efforts for threatened and endangered species.
Without oversight over whether current restrictions set by the Federal Government would actually help these species, and with very little recourse available for the property owner, this legislation takes a very important step forward to ensure there is a collaborative approach.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the good gentleman from the First Congressional District of the great State of Texas (Mr. Gohmert).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Gohmert. The gentleman knows full well from his time serving on the House Natural Resources Committee just how ineffective the current ESA is performing. I thank the gentleman for his leadership and for spearheading the SAVES Act, as he described, to enhance our conservation measures for endangered species.
Madam Speaker, you just heard from a variety of members from the Congressional Western Caucus who represent not only rural districts in the West but also communities across the Nation, from Montana to Missouri, from South Carolina to California. Their message was clear: We must modernize the ESA. Doing so will be good for the species. It will be good for communities. It will be good for taxpayers. And it will be good for our economy.
A few Members were unable to join us tonight. I want to list some of the bills that they are sponsoring: Congresswoman Cheney's Increasing Access and Multiple Use Act, Congressman Westerman's PETITION Act, Congressman Mike Johnson's Critical Habitat Improvement Act, Congressman Young's LAMP Act, Congressman Stewart's Critical Infrastructure Act, Congressman Calvert's FISH Act, Congressman McClintock's Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act, and Congressman Buck's Threatened Species Protection Improvement Act.
All of these bills are critical for a comprehensive update to ensure the ESA accomplishes what it was designed to do: recover threatened and endangered animals and wildlife.
This package is supported by dozens of organizations, including the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Counties, the Family Farm Alliance, the National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition, the American General Contractors Association, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Association of Home Builders, the Western Energy Alliance, the United Snowmobile Association, the National Mining Association, American Agri-Women, and the National Cotton Council, amongst many, many, many others.
As we continue to push for reforms to the ESA in the people's House and work with the administration and the White House to support the Department of the Interior's updated implementation regulations, I hope that my colleagues will join us in recognizing that we can do so much better to recover our Nation's magnificent flora and fauna.
The Western Caucus will remain at the forefront of this effort. A 3 percent success rate is failing our wildlife across this beautiful country. We must do better.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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