[Senate Document 118-6]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




118th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - Senate Document-118-6

 
                           VETO--S.J. RES. 9

                                (PM 22)

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                     THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                               returning

    WITHOUT MY APPROVAL S.J. RES. 9, A JOINT RESOLUTION THAT WOULD 
DISAPPROVE THE FINAL RULE ENTITLED ``ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE 
AND PLANTS; LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN; THREATENED STATUS WITH SECTION 4(D) 
RULE FOR THE DISTINCT POPULATION SEGMENT AND ENDANGERED STATUS FOR THE 
                 SOUTHERN DISTINCT POPULATION SEGMENT''




               September 26, 2023.--Ordered to be printed
To the Senate of the United States:
    I am returning herewith without my approval S.J. Res. 9, a 
joint resolution that would disapprove the final rule entitled 
``Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Lesser 
Prairie-Chicken; Threatened Status with Section 4(d) Rule for 
the Northern Distinct Population Segment and Endangered Status 
for the Southern Distinct Population Segment.''
    The final rule, Issued by the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service (USFWS), provides Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
protections to an American bird species whose historical 
habitat on the Great Plains has diminished by approximately 90 
percent and whose populations have plummeted toward 
disappearance. Following a rigorous review of the best 
available scientific and commercial information regarding the 
past, present, and future threats, as well as ongoing 
conservation efforts, the USFWS listed the Southern Distinct 
Population Segment of the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered, 
and the Northern Distinct Population Segment of the lesser 
prairie-chicken as threatened. The rule also affirms and 
protects locally led and crafted voluntary conservation 
agreements that landowners and land managers have developed in 
recent years, which provide certainty for industry as well as 
safeguards for prairie-chicken populations.
    S.J. Res. 9 would overturn a science-based rulemaking that 
follows the requirements of the law, and thereby undermines the 
ESA. The lesser prairie-chicken serves as an indicator for 
healthy grasslands and prairies, making the species an 
important measure of the overall health of America's 
grasslands. If enacted, S.J. Res. 9 would undermine America's 
proud wildlife conservation traditions, risk the extinction of 
a once-abundant American bird, and create uncertainty for 
landowners and industries who have been working for years to 
forge the durable, locally led conservation strategies that 
this rule supports.
    Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution.

                                               Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
    The White House, September 26 , 2023.