Employer Free Choice Act

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the amendment offered by Representatives Dicks, Thompson, Fitzpatrick, and Hanabusa to H.R. 2584, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. H.R. 2584 contains language that would prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from enforcing the most important parts of the Endangered Species Act. The FWS would be unable to list any new species as endangered, unable to designate as protected any habitat that is critical to species' survival, and unable to upgrade any species from threatened to endangered status.

This amendment would reverse this dangerous and short-sighted policy. It would allow the FWS to protect any of the over 260 ``candidate species,'' species that the FWS has already determined warrant additional protection, and to upgrade the status of these species to endangered.

This amendment is not only vital for wildlife, but also for us. Many of these species play keystone roles in highly complex ecological systems on which we depend for clean water, clean air, arable soil, and healthy food. Biodiversity is a resource that can be tapped into; the complexities of organisms, only some of which have even been identified, can help us find cures for cancer and other diseases. A recent study by Dr. Felicia Kessing concluded that losses in biodiversity tend to increase the rate at which diseases are transmitted.

Willingly allowing endangered species to go extinct is irresponsible and imposes limitations on our nation's ability to progress. Species loss is forever. I urge my colleagues to support this important amendment.