Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA). House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:

"Protecting our wildlife is a noble goal - I can't think of a single person, Republican or Democrat, who doesn't want to see America's rich diversity of species thrive. Unfortunately, House Democrats have hijacked RAWA and turned it into legislation that hemorrhages taxpayer dollars with no way to pay for it and no end in sight. I've stayed at the negotiating table for months, actively working to make this a bipartisan bill that members on both sides of the aisle could wholeheartedly support. This is why I'm even more disappointed to see that Republican good-faith efforts to resolve the fiscal issues have been cut short by the majority. To make matters worse, the majority dropped in a new title out of thin air with no Republican input that would take power away from the states and create more federal bureaucracy in D.C. All of these actions have created a regrettably flawed bill, one I wish I could support but cannot in its current form. I remain ready and willing to negotiate and turn RAWA back into the bipartisan bill it deserves to be."

Background

The RAWA bill that passed the House provides an average of $1.4 billion in new mandatory spending annually with no offset. The Congressional Budget Office estimated this bill will result in a mandatory cost of $12.7 billion in the first 10years alone. Since the bill does not have a sunset, such deficit spending will last forever.

Democrats pledged to help find an offset after committee action and Republicans have acted in good faith in this effort. Unfortunately, the Democrat majority chose to proceed without offsetting its proposed mandatory spending.

In a circumvention of regular order, committee Democrats airdropped a new provision in the bill that will effectively siphon money away from the states and toward the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contrary to the original intent of the bill.

Natural Resources Committee Republicans attempted to improve RAWA by offering amendments to the bill, but were repeatedly rebuffed. Republican amendments the majority did not allow to be debated on the House floor included:

• Sunsetting the bill after seven years and making the funding discretionary and subject to appropriations.
• Adding forest management activities, including mechanical thinning and prescribed burning, where the primary purpose of such activity is to modify, improve, enhance, or create wildlife habitat or reduce the risk of damage or destruction to wildlife habitat due to wildfires, insects, or disease, that improve listed species’ habitats, to the list of acceptable projects under RAWA.
• Restoring the bill to the version the committee marked up by striking Title III, which provides more funding to the federal government.
• Improving and modernizing the Endangered Species Act to ensure recovered species actually come off of the list, bolster proactive voluntary conservation efforts and provide needed flexibility to minimize economic impacts.