Failure of the Endangered Species Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. STAUBER. Madam Speaker, I rise with my colleagues in the Congressional Western Caucus to discuss abuse of the Endangered Species Act, a law passed with good intentions, but weaponized by radicals to fight hunting, fishing, mining, logging, transportation, and our way of life.

In my district in northern Minnesota, the dramatic rise of the gray wolf has posed a threat to our deer herds, our livestock, and our family pets. The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association considers it a top threat to our hunting way of life.

Meanwhile, it wreaks havoc on our cattle ranchers throughout northern Minnesota. One rancher lost 26 cows to wolves in just 1 year.

In 2013, then-President Obama's Fish and Wildlife Service rightfully delisted the gray wolf.

Why? Because the gray wolf had clearly recovered. It had exceeded population targets by as much as 300 percent. And, no, this is not a statistic from hunters or ranchers. This is straight out of a 2013 Fish and Wildlife Service press release.

Dan Ashe, Obama's Fish and Wildlife Service then-Director, when the gray wolf was delisted, stated: ``An exhaustive review of the latest scientific information . . . shows that we have accomplished that goal with the gray wolf.''

Madam Speaker, what happened next? Activist judges in Washington, D.C., put the gray wolf back on the list just a couple of years later.

And when Obama's Fish and Wildlife Service Director took a well- paying job with an activist group, his tune suddenly changed, and he wanted the gray wolf back on the endangered species list.

Fortunately, the Trump administration did the right thing, listening to the science, and delisted the gray wolf last fall.

However, the same problem with the ESA and activist groups remain, and it is widespread.

Recently, the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the moose as an endangered species because their numbers are above targets. This time, the radical activist lawyers said the quiet part out loud. In a Minneapolis Star Tribune article, the Center for Biological Diversity, which has significant influence over House Democrats, stated: ``Now it is going to be a lot harder to ensure that things like mines . . . don't go forward without protections for moose in place.''

Could their intentions be any more clearer, Madam Speaker?

The purpose of the ESA is pretty straightforward: to protect endangered species. Tragically, the ESA is not always being used for conservation. It is being weaponized as a way to advance the far left's radical agenda. It is being used by the Green New Deal Democrat Party to stop progress.

We need to update the Endangered Species Act to allow us to hunt, fish, mine, harvest timber, farm, and for other responsible uses. Let's reform the Endangered Species Act and maintain our way of life.

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