21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act

Floor Speech

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4315, which would interfere with scientific determinations for endangered species recovery and divert resources towards unnecessary bureaucracy at the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Endangered Species Act is designed to use the best possible science to identify and protect our most vulnerable species from extinction. This bill would eliminate rational assessment of data and instead mandate that any information from any state, local, or tribal government must be named the ``best available science'' to make decisions. It includes no minimum threshold, such as peer review, for the integrity of that data. Moreover, it invites uncertainty, as there is no way to distinguish between conflicting data from two different states or localities.

The bill also creates unnecessary and cumbersome reporting requirements for the Fish and Wildlife Service, including listing potentially sensitive commercial data and species location information online. It includes no additional funding to complete these reports, diverting funds from the agency's core mission of safeguarding vulnerable species.

As the Speaker plans to recess the House at the end of this week, there are important issues that we should be addressing, including the wildfires that threaten public and private lands in the west. Instead, we are weakening fundamental protections for endangered species, creating more paperwork to distract from recovery efforts, and devising bizarre new rules to politicize science. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this bill.

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