Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Madam Chair, as co-chair of the Congressional Endangered Species Caucus, I rise today in opposition to this amendment.

I can't believe that we are here again considering this unpopular amendment. It was brutally defeated last year, and it was crushed the year before, both times with bipartisan support.

The Endangered Species Act has wide popularity, but our current biodiversity outlook has really worsened. Our scientific community continues to scream from the rooftops that biodiversity shrinking is a danger to humanity.

In the meantime, our national defense is in no way endangered by saving endangered species. Amazingly, this is basically an attack on the Endangered Species Act that the Department of Defense has never asked for. It is a solution in search of a problem.

The Department of Defense already has a robust collaboration with the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. They do management plans everywhere.

Military lands are already excluded from designation as a critical habitat when there are management plans in place for listed species. Wholesale exempting the Department of Defense and its many contractors from compliance with the ESA puts our Nation's national legacy at needless risk.

To date, as the Member from Arizona has mentioned, 99 percent of the species listed under the ESA have been saved from disappearing forever, making this one of the most successful pieces of legislation in American history.

Actions to protect these species do not hinder national security, and managing endangered species in balance with our mission is something the Department of Defense already does very well.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues, once more, to reject this unwanted and unnecessary amendment.

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