Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, December 9, Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04) joined the Heritage Foundation for a webinar titled, "Major Legislation to Improve Implementation of the Endangered Species Act." Throughout the webinar, they discussed the importance of promoting state and locally-led species recovery efforts, as well as legislation recently introduced by Western Caucus Members that would codify the Trump Administration's improvements to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). 

“Congressional Western Caucus Members serve as a voice for rural America in Congress, and every one of our Members has, in some shape or form, been affected by the Endangered Species Act,” said Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04). “We can all agree that the ESA was written with good intentions, but its implementation has left a lot to be desired. The ESA is a failure, and onerous regulations have hindered recovery efforts – not to mention the economies and livelihoods of so many in rural America. Instead of a top-down approach, we need flexible tools to effectively recover species – not strict regulations.”

“The problem is that rather than use the Endangered Species Act as a shield, the woke Left uses the Endangered Species Act as a sword,” said Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04). “It attacks private property rights wherever it can, it goes after those individuals who…employ people, they develop land, they produce the food we all eat and the energy we all use. By using this statute as a sword, it has done great harm – not just to our economy, but as my friend Dan Newhouse said, also to individual livelihoods, to the folks who are working the hardest on the land.”

Background:

On October 26, Western Caucus Members introduced legislation to codify the Trump Administration's 2019 and 2020 regulations to modernize the ESA. Click here to read more.