[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES ACT OF 1996

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 24, 1996

  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in favor of H.R. 3217, the 
National Invasive Species Act of 1996. This bill would reauthorize 
funds for the Brown Tree Snake Control Program which seeks to reduce 
the adverse effects of the nonindigenous brown tree snake to Guam as 
well as prevent the spread of the species to other outlying areas.
  Brown tree snakes have long been identified as the cause of Guam's 
diminishing bird population and the extinction of some of the island's 
native species. Due to the lack of natural predators and to the ideal 
environment Guam provides for the propagation of the snakes, the brown 
tree snake has continually wreaked havoc on Guam's wildlife. If this 
present trend continues, we can soon expect the extinction of more of 
Guam's native birds and the introduction of this pest to snakeless 
areas such as Hawaii.
  Controlling the snake population on Guam is the best approach towards 
wildlife preservation. In a misguided attempt to save Guam's birds, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed a wildlife refuge in the 
hopes that such a refuge would reverse the trend of a diminishing bird 
population. This notion is flawed at best. We know for a fact that the 
nonindigenous brown tree snakes must be taken out of the habitat in 
order for birds to thrive. Guam supports saving its endangered species 
but this must be done through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
controlling the brown tree snake population and not by them acquiring 
more land. After all, a wildlife refuge would only serve to gather the 
island's remaining bird species in an area that could easily be overrun 
by the brown tree snake. In a couple of years, this proposed bird 
sanctuary would surely be nothing more than a snakepit taken right out 
of an Indiana Jones movie.
  The funds reauthorized by H.R. 3217 offer an alternative that imposes 
the least burden on Guam's limited resources and gives Guam's birds the 
best chance at survival. Providing for the development of programs to 
control the snake population also spares Guam's neighbors from the 
devastation brought about by the brown tree snake. Let us not allow 
harmful nonindigenous species to take over our fragile ecosystems. I 
urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3217.

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