Keystone XL Pipeline Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has
determined that the lesser prairie chicken should be listed in a number
of States, including Kansas, as a threatened species. The lesser
prairie chicken has had a significant history in our State and a
significant population of birds, but as a result of a drought, the
habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and other wildlife has been
diminished and the number of birds has decreased.

The consequences of listing the lesser prairie chicken that results
from a drought is so dramatic and so damaging to the Kansas economy and
to the farmers and ranchers and the use of their lands, to the oil and
gas industry and the exploration of oil and gas, and to the utility
industry in regard to the production and transmission of electricity
that this amendment is necessary to set aside that listing as a
threatened species and to allow interest holders in Kansas to come
together and find a commonsense solution based upon sound science to
protect the habitat of this bird.

This is not just a Kansas issue, and in fact, this species is only
the precursor to problems others will have in their States.

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