Recovering America's Wildlife Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Dingell for the time and for her great work on this landmark bipartisan legislation, the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, or RAWA, as we call it.

This is a bright spot amidst so many problems facing our Nation. As our constituents are well aware, the climate crisis and other human impacts have dramatically harmed our Nation's wildlife, and, in fact, State agencies have identified 12,000 wildlife species that are in need of conservation assistance. In the United States alone, there are currently 1,300 species that are either threatened or endangered. If we fail to act, these profound and irreversible losses will continue to have devastating ecosystem impacts.

States, territories, and Tribes are doing great work to address threats to wildlife, but their conservation efforts have been chronically underfunded for decades. This stream of dedicated funding from RAWA is a lifeline for local wildlife agencies.

This bill also provides local governments the resources to address key elements impacting biodiversity loss such as wildfire and drought which are worsening as the climate crisis accelerates. RAWA lays the groundwork for wildfire threat mitigation on a number of fronts, including managing vegetation and creating wildlife-friendly fire management plans on the front end, performing emergency rescues during the fires, and restoring critical habitat after fires.

RAWA funding will also allow local communities to restore habitats that have been harmed by drought and protect vulnerable ecosystems from further damage because we know these drought conditions are going to continue.

We cannot lose sight of the cultural implications of this legislation. The funding in this bill for Tribal nations to recover fish and wildlife is critical to protecting the species that have been integral to their cultures since time immemorial. Biodiversity is declining at a rate not seen since the last mass extinction. Tackling this crisis simply cannot wait.

As chairman of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am incredibly glad to see this bill on the floor today with strong bipartisan support--42 Republican cosponsors, and 152 Democrats.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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