Expressing support for the goals and ideals of the first annual National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day taking place on September 26, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our nation's wild horses and burros. These graceful and social wild animals have captured the hearts and minds of many Americans. They are stunning to watch as they roam free on public lands and remain an historical national treasure. It is imperative that we protect and ensure a viable future for them.

Ensuring a strong adoption program for wild horses and burros is one important step toward addressing the current ineffective, inhumane and expensive practices the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, has employed to manage the population. As such, I support this bill and will continue to work to ensure the success of the adoption program.

However, adoption alone will not offset the damage caused by the failed herd management practices of the BLM. Despite efforts to adopt out horses and burros, BLM has more than 30,000 wild horses in holding areas. In October 2008, the GAO released a report entitled ``Effective Long-Term Options Needed to Manage Unadoptable Wild Horses.'' This report affirms that BLM will continue to face budget shortfalls if long-term corrections to current management practices are not put in place. The bulk of these shortfalls are anticipated to result from the current management methods that round up wild horses and burros from Herd Management Areas, HMA, to long- and short-term holding areas.

The BLM maintains that removal of the horses from the BLM lands is necessary to ``maintain a thriving ecological balance.'' However, the BLM has a history of using this statutory goal as justification for failed herd management practices.

When Congress enacted the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, 54 million acres were dedicated for use by wild horses and burros. Currently, they roam on 29 million BLM acres and 2.5 million Forest Service acres. Additional state, tribal, and private lands bring the total acreage to 34.3 million, a reduction of 19.2 million acres. Approximately 13 million of the 19.2 million closed acres were under BLM ownership and closed to wild horses and burros because of new laws and regulations as well as BLM's own land use planning decisions. This clearly defies congressional intent and shows a pattern of behavior on the part of BLM that reduces the land on which wild horses and burros roam.

BLM's decision to reduce land available to the wild horses and burros is called into question by the facts. A 1990 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report concluded that removals had not been demonstrated to improve range conditions, in part because livestock cause greater degradation to riparian areas and consume higher levels of forage. Furthermore, the Congressional Research Service states that the extent of damage by wild horses and burros as compared to livestock suffers from a ``lack of definitive data on forage consumed and range degradation.'' Yet there are approximately 33,000 wild horses and burros on 34 million acres of land, while there are at least 6.4 million cattle, sheep and other livestock that graze on 160 million acres of BLM land. The density of the livestock population far exceeds that of the population of wild horses and burros. But BLM continues to argue that the horses and burros threaten BLM's ability to maintain ecological balance.

Recently, the BLM justified a roundup of wild mustangs on the Pryor Mountain Range of Montana and Wyoming with the ``thriving ecological balance'' argument. The Pryor Mountain Range wild mustangs are reported to have a genetic link to the Spanish horses of the Conquistadors brought to America in 1500. Their DNA makes them a unique wild horse that is a distinct part of America's history.

According to equine geneticist, Gus Cothran of Texas A&M University, who has been studying the wild horse population of the Pryor Mountains for many years, the single most important factor ``in maintaining genetic variation in a managed population is effective population size.'' Genetic diversity is vital to the long term survival of any herd. BLM's decision to roundup the Pryor Mountain Range horses threatens the effective population size which compromises the genetic diversity of the herd.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H. Res. 688 and pledge to continue to work to correct the failed management practices of the BLM.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Rahall and subcommittee Chairman Grijalva for bringing this timely resolution to the floor today.

I rise in strong support of H. Res. 688, a resolution I introduced with my colleagues from the Nevada congressional delegation in support of the goals and ideals of National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day.

Wild horses and burros are living symbols of the independent, free spirit of the American West. My State of Nevada is home to more than half the wild horses in the country, and our State quarter depicts a trio of wild mustangs.

The Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which became law in 1971, gave the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior responsibility for the humane capture, removal, and adoption of wild horses and burros. The agencies ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. But because these animals have no natural predators, herd sizes can increase dramatically in very short periods of time.

In order to maintain balance on the rangelands, wild horses and burros are gathered and offered for adoption and sale. Currently, there are some 31,000 wild horses in short-term and long-term holding facilities, with 18,000 young horses available for adoption.

Although reasonable people might disagree on the appropriate number of

horses that should be allowed to roam free, ranchers, wild horse advocates, environmentalists, animal lovers, and taxpayers alike can agree that there is a pressing need to improve upon the adoption programs to remove horses from these holding facilities and place them in good adoptive homes.

On September 26, 2009, a number of private organizations will assist with the adoption of excess wild horses and burros in conjunction with the first National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day. State BLM offices, as well as rescue centers, wild horse groups, environmentalists, and volunteers from all walks of life will be engaged in activities leading up to and on this important day.

BLM, the American Horse Protection Association, the Mustang Heritage Foundation, the Humane Society of the United States, and Wild Horses 4Ever all support National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day, and more than 65 adoption and educational events will take place across the country in support of its goals. Wild horse advocates have set a 1,000 horse and burro adoption goal for National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day. This will save taxpayers $1.5 million. This process has already begun as we saw last weekend with a successful adoption event in Pahrump, Nevada.

The resolution we are considering today supports the goals of National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day to be held annually in coordination with the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture. It also recognizes that creating a successful adoption model for wild horses and burros is consistent with the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act of 1971 and beneficial to the long-term interests of the people of the United States in protecting wild horses and burros.

Lastly, my resolution encourages Americans to adopt a wild horse or burro and own a living symbol of the historic and pioneer spirit of the American West, just as my sister, Rho Hudson, did when she adopted a wild burro, Sadie, who is a nice addition to her ranch in Pea Vine Canyon, Nevada.

More than 220,000 wild horses and burros have been adopted since 1973. By placing this renewed emphasis on the importance of wild horse adoption programs, we will protect the welfare of these majestic animals and save taxpayer dollars at the same time.

I urge passage of this important resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 688) expressing support for the goals and ideals of the first annual National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day taking place on September 26, 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution that is now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 688, introduced by the gentlewoman from Nevada, Representative Dina Titus, expresses support for the goals and the ideals of the first annual National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day, which takes place on September 26, 2009.

In 1971, Congress passed the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, which sought to prevent the disappearance of these horses and burros from the western range and created the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.

H. Res. 688 supports the first annual National Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Day. It recognizes that a successful adoption program is vital to managing these animals, and that more must be done to promote the program and educate the public. I would also note that in support of the goals of that 1971 act, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1018, the Restore our American Mustangs, or ROAM Act, introduced by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rahall and passed by this House in July.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 688 is important in drawing attention to the vital role of adoption in saving America's wild horses and burros. I commend Representative Titus for shining a light on this important event, and I ask my colleagues to support passage.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to Representative Titus, the sponsor of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support this important bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 688, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I want to commend the Nevada delegation for this resolution urging the public to adopt the 18,000 wild horses waiting for adoption. However, it is a little confusing. Just 2 months ago, both the Democratic sponsor and cosponsor of this bill voted in favor of H.R. 1018, a bill that even the Obama administration said would make the problem worse, not better.

I am also perplexed, with Nevada's unemployment rate at 13.2 percent, how both of our Democratic colleagues from that hard-hit State could vote for a bill that would spend close to a billion dollars to expand a failed welfare program for wild horses.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H. Res. 688.

Having no additional speakers on this topic, I yield back the balance of my time.