Failure of the Endangered Species Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington not only for holding this important forum tonight but also for his tremendous leadership with the Western Caucus, where we look at real solutions for rural America.

Madam Speaker, America is blessed with an incredible abundance of wildlife. Many of these animals have become icons of our country. Look no further than the majestic bald eagle, the national symbol of freedom and American pride.

With such rich biodiversity, we have a responsibility to respect and protect the species that call the United States home. When President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law in 1973, its stated intent was simple: protect wildlife most at risk of extinction.

While the law had just intentions, ambiguous language and lawsuits have allowed special interest groups to hijack the ESA, using it as a weapon against any projects or actions they oppose. This has had a particularly devastating impact on rural economies across the country as red-tape lawsuits block important projects and essential agency actions.

One example of this, as my colleagues from California know, is continual ESA lawsuits over the 3-inch Delta smelt that have diverted trillions of gallons of water away from farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California to create a man-made drought and double-digit unemployment in recent years.

Despite these diversions, the fish populations of the Delta smelt continue decreasing, and more farmers are throwing in the towel because of the uncertainty.

We can find another example in the Pacific Northwest. The 1990 listing of the northern spotted owl economically devastated rural communities in Oregon and Washington by virtually decimating the timber industry in the region. The collapse of the timber industry has actually hurt the northern spotted owl by making these forests into dense, overgrown powder kegs. Now, decades later, Americans are paying higher prices for building materials because much of our mill infrastructure was wiped out, never to return.

ESA litigation has also prevented delisting of animals that have fully recovered, like the grizzly bear. The Western States that house grizzly bears undertook a herculean effort to recover them, to the point that the Fish and Wildlife Service found that grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem are fully recovered.

This is not a new issue, as they first moved to delist the Greater Yellowstone population back in 2007. However, due to ESA lawsuits from radical special interest groups, both population segments are still listed.

Unfortunately, examples like this now fill the endangered species list. This is diverting critical resources away from animals that actually need protection.

This should be common sense. If an animal recovers and is thriving in its environment, it should be delisted, plain and simple. Yet, Democrat lawmakers and administration officials are so intent on pleasing the whims of special interest groups that they refuse to follow the science and to look at the facts. We must work together to close these loopholes.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced it is rolling back significant ESA reforms. It is another example of how out of touch this administration is with rural Americans and endangered species as well. Under these policies, rural America is now what is in the most danger.

Many of the reforms put in place under President Trump were born out of input from local communities most affected by the policies created in Washington. Yet, this administration seems bent on reinstating burdensome regulations in order to open up the door for environmental groups to again weaponize the ESA.

Republican or Democrat, we can all agree that we want our most vulnerable species not just to survive but to thrive for generations. Using the ESA as a political battering ram will not accomplish this goal.

We must return the ESA to its original intent: protecting wildlife that is most at risk. Anything more than that is a bureaucratic overreach and a giveaway to radical environmental groups.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman again for hosting this forum.

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