Boebert Calls On Dems To Stop 'Gulf Of America' Jokes, Floats Renaming DC To 'District Of America'

3 days ago

During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing Tuesday, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) floated the idea of about renaming Washington D.C. to the 'District of America.'

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Transcript

00:00The chair now recognizes Ms. Boebert

00:02for five minutes of question.

00:04Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:05I would caution my colleagues on the other side of the aisle

00:09to refrain from making fun of the Gulf of America

00:12because next up, you know, may end up be the District

00:15of America that we're working on.

00:17So just, you know, keep the jokes at bay and, you know,

00:21maybe we'll just stick with the Gulf of America for now.

00:23And I do want to just take a personal moment and recognize,

00:27we have a former congresswoman, Yvette Harrell from, hi, Yvette.

00:33She was a distinct member on this committee and she's here

00:36and in the room with us today.

00:37So I just wanted to say hello to you, Yvette.

00:41Mr. Caravaglia, do you know the current gray wolf

00:45population total?

00:47Pardon? Do you know the total population

00:49of the gray wolf currently?

00:51No, I don't think anybody knows.

00:52There's estimates that range.

00:54Estimates of about 6,000.

00:55It's a pretty widely adopted estimate that we have

00:59about 6,000 gray wolves in the lower 48.

01:02Would you agree with that?

01:03Yeah, about 6,000 to 8,000 is correct.

01:05Great. You have a number even higher than me,

01:07which is well above like any regional numbers

01:11that we were looking at for the Endangered Species Act.

01:14So would you consider 6,000 to 8,000 gray wolves being,

01:20the gray wolf being fully recovered?

01:22I absolutely would not.

01:23Six to 8,000 when there were one, you know,

01:26when there were a half a million before is not enough.

01:29And it's really about their ecological function.

01:31They're called keystone species because they reduce erosion.

01:34So I think 6,000 to 8,000, sorry, my time is limited here.

01:37I think 6,000 to 8,000 is a good number,

01:40especially when we're seeing just the amount

01:43of depredation cases taking place, the amount of harm

01:47to our pets, to our livestock, to our wildlife.

01:51And, you know, there's been a lot of attacks on Elon Musk

01:54and the federal agencies and folks no longer being employed

01:58because of DOJ efforts or whatever that may be

02:01by President Trump's request.

02:03Don't you think this is a great time

02:06to get the federal government out of the way

02:08and return management back to the states and local tribes?

02:13No, I think we need the expertise

02:15of these federal biologists.

02:16So the federal government is just the end all, be all.

02:19We have the federal government, and they're smarter

02:22than any state management program,

02:24any tribal management program.

02:28The best conservation is

02:30with the collaboration between federal and state.

02:32Do these biologists benefit from being in frivolous lawsuits

02:37and held up in court rather than being

02:40in the lab and creating studies?

02:42You know, most biologists want to be out in the field.

02:45Yes, they do.

02:45But there are frivolous lawsuits that prevent them from that.

02:49And I haven't heard any of my colleagues on the other side

02:51of the aisle complaining about that aspect of it,

02:53just that there may be some reduction in these employees.

02:58Is there a question?

03:03Well, you are saying, it's not really a question, you're saying

03:07that they want to be in the field.

03:09Yes, the federal.

03:09But there are these frivolous lawsuits that keep them tied up.

03:13And. I don't know if they're frivolous or not.

03:16So I, as a federal biologist, you.

03:18I'm, thank you, thank you very much for your time.

03:21I'm going to move on to Dr. Roberts here.

03:23Do you believe that it's time to delist the gray wolf

03:28from the Endangered Species Act?

03:30Yes, ma'am, I do.

03:30I think that science is clear on that.

03:33And with this frivolous litigation like the Defenders

03:38of Wildlife Lawsuit, does that,

03:41has it distorted the original intent

03:44of the Endangered Species Act?

03:46Yes, I think so.

03:47The Endangered Species Act is intended to protect animals

03:49at immediate risk of extinction.

03:52And those lawsuits that you referenced, if you look at those,

03:55they're primarily on procedural issues, not the issue

03:58of whether the number of animals that are on the landscape.

04:01Yes, yeah, when the ESA is abused, I think that the intent

04:06of the act is certainly distorted as well.

04:09And Dr. Roberts, how does keeping the wolves listed harm

04:13if it does the conservation efforts?

04:17Well, I think it's discouraging to states and to individuals

04:23to engage in species recovery, to be involved in working

04:29with species at peril if there's no end in sight.

04:34And just with our last 30 seconds, Dr. Roberts,

04:36how successful have state and tribal management been

04:43at helping restore the gray wolf populations

04:46to the full recovery levels?

04:50Well, like my colleague mentions, collaboration

04:53between the state and federal government is important.

04:57And working with the state government was an important

05:00aspect that led to the recovery of the gray wolf.

05:03Thank you very much.

05:04Thank you to all of our witnesses.

05:05Madam Chair, I yield.

Boebert Calls On Dems To Stop 'Gulf Of America' Jokes, Floats Renaming DC To 'District Of America'

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