Doug LaMalfa

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Arkansas for yielding.

It is amazing here. I represent the northeast corner of California where the wolves are being inflicted upon the people and the wildlife of that area. The stuff I hear coming from the other side of the aisle about recovering the wolves and even the mocking, yes, it is real.

There are wolves that are encroaching on elementary schools in Siskiyou County, the Little Shasta Elementary School. This isn't some ``Little Red Riding Hood'' story. This isn't some made-up deal. It is very real, and they are coming closer and closer to town all over the northeast part of California.

My colleague from the north coast, when he mocks us like that, I am wondering if this Proposition 50 in California kicks in, and he ends up representing my constituents up there that are fighting against this, and I am their only voice in the echo chamber of California against this: Are you going to have townhalls up there? Are you going to go into Modoc County, Siskiyou County, Sierra Valley, and tell them this is a ``Red Riding Hood'' story about the wolves devouring their livestock, eating up all their wildlife?

The mocking. Why is it they can't stand the people that produce the food, the lumber that comes from my part of the State, from the West, from the rural parts of America? Is it they want all of their beef--I guess if they don't eat beef, they might be able to have this conversation--if they want their beef to be imported from somewhere else, if they don't want it produced here, under our standards, why is it they hate my constituents who are just trying to provide the urban people with what they need?

We don't need a hell of a lot, just coming from the urban area, I tell you what. If the gentleman wants to cater only to Marin County and have this population continue to devastate our people up there and rein in just a little bit the misinterpretation of the Endangered Species Act over the 50 years--yeah, it was well-intentioned when it came out. It was a temporary tool. It never was meant to be a life sentence or even a death sentence for livestock and for people's livelihoods up here in this area here or all over the West. This is a clear example of how the ESA has drifted a long ways from that end.

It is high time that people have tools, especially my home State of California, where they have no tools until the fish and game finally decides to come in.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, in my district, the wolf problem is not just some abstract issue. They are on the ground. They are creating real problems for a lot of people and a lot of wildlife.

This past weekend in my district, gray wolves were seen dangerously close to Little Shasta Elementary School right here in Siskiyou County.

As a precaution, law enforcement was contacted, a local emergency was declared, and students were kept indoors for the entire school day, including recess and PE. That is an elementary school that changed its daily operations because of predators in the area. This is exactly what I have been warning about.

Federal policy has made wolves untouchable, even when they show up near homes, schools, and working lands. Local officials are left to try to manage the consequences of this threat while Washington bureaucracy tells them to wait.

We have a bill, H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, which is a giant step toward fixing this. It gives States and locals more authority to deal with problem wolves before someone gets hurt.

Ignoring this doesn't make it go away. It makes it worse. Devouring wildlife and livestock with no compensation is not something just to be ignored. What are we going to do, kids next?