Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. JACKSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to support my amendment to rein in the overreach of the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Biden-Harris administration by restoring funding to the fiscal year 2021 level.

Under this administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service has caused significant harm to the industries that are most important to our rural communities. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their entire administration have weaponized the Endangered Species Act to target America's agricultural and oil and gas producers in an effort to advance radical Green New Deal initiatives.

In contrast, during the Trump administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service undertook efforts to add and remove species from the endangered and threatened species list based solely on the best available scientific and commercial information.

Unfortunately, the Biden and Harris administration has proven they are more focused on political motivations and appeasing the radical left than they are in undertaking efforts to responsibly conserve species. Make no mistake: The listing of the lesser prairie-chicken, the northern long-eared bat, and the Texas kangaroo rat are nothing more than an attempt to destroy the livelihoods of America's farmers, ranchers, and oil and gas producers.

The conservation of our wildlife and natural habitats can only be done successfully when it is driven by local conservation efforts that balance responsible stewardship and economic development.

This cannot be done by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., who are pushing a climate-change narrative. This body must restore fiscal sanity and curb the Fish and Wildlife Service's abusive power and out- of-control funding level.

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Mr. JACKSON of Texas. Mr. Chairman, I once again encourage all of my colleagues to vote for this. This is just another example of out-of- control government regulation, and I think this is in the best interests of our country.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. JACKSON of Texas. Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support my amendment to stop the Federal land grab happening in my district by the Biden-Harris administration's radical Fish and Wildlife Service.

My amendment will prohibit the implementation of the devastating proposed rule to list the Texas kangaroo rat as endangered which would subsequently designate 600,000 acres of private property across five counties as critical habitat.

This decision is another example of the Biden-Harris administration's weaponization of the Endangered Species Act against American farmers, ranchers, and oil and gas producers.

A designation of this land will significantly harm everyday Americans who provide food and fuel that our country relies upon by putting in place overburdensome, expensive, and overreaching regulations that are completely unnecessary.

While the State of Texas has already taken the initiative to voluntarily enroll thousands of acres of agricultural land to conserve the Texas kangaroo rat, the Biden-Harris Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to ignore these efforts by imposing aggressive regulations that carry significant civil and criminal penalties.

Farming and ranching industries are the cornerstone of Texas' unique history, heritage, and economy, and this proposed rule is a direct attack on Texas agriculture.

Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration will stop at nothing to advance its radical, Green New Deal agenda and destroy our way of life.

Texas has a proud history of responsible land management, and for any effort to succeed, it must be driven by our local communities rather than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Chair, I urge every Member of this body to support my amendment to stop this radical overreach by the Federal Government, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. JACKSON of Texas. Mr. Chair, I will say that as a marine biologist, I am totally in full support of making sure that we do not do things that drive a species into extinction. I will say, however, that there must be a balance with an economic impact, and the economic impact in the district that I represent in the panhandle of Texas would be devastating.

I think that these decisions on placing species on the endangered species list must be driven by scientific data, not by political ideology.

Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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