RAWR Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to sponsor the RAWR Act, Rescuing Animals With Rewards, H.R. 6197.

The RAWR Act will help ensure that taking down terrorists and transnational criminal organizations engaged in wildlife trafficking and poaching will be a top Rewards priority.

Combating terrorism is of the utmost importance, not just to my constituents, not just to New Yorkers, but to the entire Nation. It is an issue that transcends party lines.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support from the Wildlife Conservation Society and a letter of

support and endorsement from the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Humane Society International.

Wildlife Conservation Society,

Bronx, NY, September 12, 2018.

Hon. Daniel M. Donovan, Jr.,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC.

Dear Congressman Donovan: The Wildlife Conservation Society

writes to express our support for H.R. 6197, the RAWR Act, as

a way to help crack down on the destabilizing criminal

trafficking that threatens both wildlife and U.S. economic

and security interests.

The RAWR Act would allow the U.S. Department of State to

add wildlife trafficking, as defined by the END Wildlife

Trafficking Act, to the list of transnational criminal

activities for which it may provide monetary rewards to

informants and tipsters. As the founders of the 96 Elephants

campaign, dedicated to stopping the killing, trafficking and

demand for illegal wildlife, we would applaud this change.

Wildlife trafficking is a serious national security issue.

The transnational organized criminal groups that profit from

illegal wildlife products are the same ones trafficking in

weapons, narcotics and people. This activity destabilizes

regions important for U.S. economic interests and undermines

the good governance and the rule of law.

Targeting wildlife trafficking is essential if we want

future generations to live in a world that is still home to

our most iconic animals. The demand for ivory, rhino horn,

tiger skins, and other products is causing those endangered

species and many others to rapidly diminish.

WCS works globally to disrupt wildlife trafficking networks

and the criminals that run them, creating and sharing

intelligence products with government enforcement agencies,

and improving communications at the national and

international scale to implement proactive enforcement

activities. The passage of the RAWR Act would add an

effective new tactic to the efforts to stop wildlife

trafficking.

We appreciate all your work on international conservation

issues, from taking part in last year's ivory crush in New

York's Central Park to leading on the push for U.S.

government investments in global anti-trafficking programs,

which has been of invaluable assistance in securing the

world's endangered wildlife.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the 17th anniversary of September 11. It was a stark reminder of the danger terrorism poses to the Nation every single day.

The district I represent, Staten Island and South Brooklyn, which is home to many of New York's bravest and finest, suffered hundreds of casualties on September 11. Since then, New York remains the world's number one target for terrorism.

As a nation, we have become a more resilient and determined nation to mitigate threats against us; but as we have choked off other resources of money, terrorists have increasingly turned to wildlife trafficking as a way to fund their heinous endeavors. Any step that we can take that will lead to the capture and conviction of anyone engaged in wildlife trafficking, especially terrorists, is a step in the right direction.

Reports indicate that crimes related to illegal wildlife trafficking generate billions of dollars a year. These illicit funds turn into terrorist financing, fuel instability, and help arm groups in Africa.

The prices that wildlife traffickers can fetch for hunting and ruthlessly killing animals are staggering. Conservation groups estimate that a kilogram of raw ivory can be worth as much as $2,100, while a kilogram of rhino horn can be worth $65,000.

I am confident that the Foreign Affairs Committee and the House of Representatives will continue to fight against this problem.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my chairman, Chairman Royce, for his support on this bill and the ranking member and my colleague from New York, Eliot Engel. I thank my friend, Congressman Castro, for co- leading with me, and I thank the House leadership for bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the staff of the Foreign Affairs Committee, especially Meg Gallagher and Sean O'Neill, who put much work into this act.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6197, the Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act of 2018.

I would like to begin by thanking Mr. Donovan and Mr. Castro for introducing this important legislation, and I would also like to thank Chairman Royce for his incredible efforts over many, many years to promote the conservation of wildlife and wild places.

In recent years, Congress has taken a number of important steps to combat wildlife trafficking, but the situation remains dire. Over the last 10 years, one-third of African elephants have been slaughtered for their tusks.

Let me say that again. Over the last 10 years, one-third of African elephants have been slaughtered for their tusks. That is a shocking statistic.

Rhino populations have also been decimated, and many other species are at risk.

Protecting wildlife is the right thing to do. I know the Wildlife Conservation Society does a really good job. My good friend John Calvelli is leading the charge there, and so I am very aware of what we need to do to protect our wildlife.

But not only is it the right thing to do, it also serves American national security interests. Wildlife trafficking feeds corruption, undermines the rule of law, threatens economic prosperity, and drives instability, and it is carried out by many of the same international criminal syndicates engaged in the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and people.

This bipartisan, commonsense legislation before us today provides our government with a tool it can use to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife. Specifically, it authorizes rewards under the State Department's Rewards for Justice program for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those engaged in wildlife trafficking. This can provide a powerful financial incentive for people to turn in those responsible for this appalling activity.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of our colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus), a cosponsor of this bill and, as I said before, a very valued House Foreign Affairs Committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let me say in closing, I want to again thank Mr. Donovan and Mr. Castro for authoring this bill and Chairman Royce for his extraordinary leadership in efforts to combat wildlife trafficking.

It is shocking to me that in the year 2018 people still want to kill majestic animals like elephants and rhinos for their body parts. It is just disgusting.

We need to continue our support of a multipronged effort to address the poaching crisis, going after the international criminal networks that drive this illicit trade, working with other governments to establish and enforce tough laws against wildlife trafficking, partnering with local communities in the countries where animals live to make sure they have a stake in protecting wildlife, and educating consumers about the consequences of their decisions to purchase illegal wildlife products, because we really need to hit them in their pocketbooks. If people are purchasing these things, the illicit trafficking is going to continue.

The bipartisan legislation before us today will provide one additional tool in the fight against wildlife trafficking, and I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6197) to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize rewards for thwarting wildlife trafficking linked to transnational organized crime, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous materials in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure, which targets transnational wildlife traffickers through the State Department's existing global rewards program. These rewards will serve as a powerful tool to capture and to convict--to convict--wanted transnational criminals and terrorists who profit from the illegal wildlife trade.

Last week as we opened the papers, there were 87 elephant carcasses discovered in Botswana's Okavango Delta. These animals were shot by poachers. They were brutally stripped of their tusks. They were left to die.

This is a very real and urgent issue. Wildlife trafficking is generating over $10 billion a year in illegal profits for increasingly sophisticated criminal syndicates, and it is also generating profits for terrorists who are involved in this kind of slaughter. The illegal ivory trade is especially lucrative.

Mr. Speaker, for years now, I have been engaged in this effort to save some of the most endangered species. During a recent trip to Tanzania, my colleagues and I met with the law enforcement and park rangers on the front lines. They told us how they were outmanned. They are outgunned. They are up against sophisticated criminal networks that use helicopters, that use night vision goggles.

We have met with local communities impacted by these crimes, who explain how wildlife trafficking jeopardizes local security, spreads disease, of course undermines the rule of law. It fuels corruption. It damages economic development.

Wildlife trafficking is a serious national security threat, and combating it requires a global approach to identifying and apprehending the world's worst offenders. And time is not on our side. Each day of inaction means more animals poached, more cash for criminal syndicates and terrorists.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the bill's author, Representative Donovan, as well as cosponsors Castro and Ranking Member Eliot Engel for their work on this important measure. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Donovan), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a former prosecutor. He is the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, a former district attorney like Dan Donovan can tell you, if you are trying to get the attention of a thug, there is nothing like a reward on your head to create real fear for that terrorist or that criminal.

We want wildlife traffickers to know the fear of being hunted. It is time we send the message to wildlife traffickers around the world that the United States will use every tool at our disposal to stop them and to take them down.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I thank Ranking Member Engel for his leadership in this.

I, too, rise in support of H.R. 6197. It is a bill that will combat the illegal wildlife trade by authorizing rewards for information on wildlife traffickers through the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.

First, I want to thank the cosponsors, Representatives Donovan and Castro, for their work on this bipartisan legislation, along with Chairman Royce, who has dedicated his career to helping animals in faraway places.

Wildlife trafficking generates over $10 billion, annually, for transnational criminal networks. As such, it not only decimates endangered wildlife species, but it also threatens security and fuels corruption.

H.R. 6197 gives the State Department another tool to go after wildlife traffickers, and it positively complements the END Wildlife Trafficking Act, which recognizes wildlife trafficking as a serious crime.

Together, these two efforts will fuel a multipronged, coordinated approach to combating the illegal wildlife trade and will help to bring the perpetrators to justice.

As an advocate for wildlife protections, I am proud to cosponsor this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of it today and end this wildlife trafficking practice.