[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5096-S5097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NUTRIA ERADICATION AND CONTROL ACT OF 2003

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 273, just received from 
the House and which is now at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 273) to provide for the eradication and 
     control of nutria in Maryland and Louisiana.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to proceeding to the bill 
at this time?
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have no objection to proceeding to the 
measure, but I ask the distinguished majority whip, is this the rat 
eradication bill?
  Mr. McCONNELL. The nutria eradication bill.
  Mr. REID. Is that the rat eradication?
  Mr. McCONNELL. It certainly is.
  Mr. REID. Yes, I think so.
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, this legislation would reauthorize and 
expand the Nutria Control Project established under Public Law 105-322 
to help address the non-native rodent nutria which is destroying 
wetlands and valuable habitat at and around Blackwater National 
Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Louisiana. 
Sponsored by my colleague, Representative Wayne Gilchrest, the 
legislation authorizes $4 million in grant assistance to the State of 
Maryland and $2 million to the State of Louisiana for each of the next 
5 fiscal

[[Page S5097]]

years to help alleviate this invasive problem.
  Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and its surrounding wetlands are 
being threatened by the prolific and highly invasive non-indigenous 
species nutria which is destroying the tidal marshes and even 
displacing other native species. Over the past three decades, the 
population of nutria in Maryland has grown exponentially from about 150 
to as many as 150,000--a thousand fold increase. During that same 
period, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge has lost more than 40 
percent of its marshes--approximately 7000 of 17,000 acres--due, in 
large part, to nutria. As nutria population densities continue to 
increase, so does the range of the creature and its associated 
ecological damage. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
every Maryland county south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on both the 
eastern and western shores has reported nutria. Without action, 
resource managers believe that valuable habitat will continue to be 
lost at an accelerated rate, numerous fish and wildlife resources will 
be impacted, and the range and distribution of this invasive species 
will continue to expand.
  In 1998, the Congress enacted legislation Public Law 105-322--
authorizing $2.9 million for a 3-year pilot project designed to develop 
techniques to control nutria populations and to restore degraded marsh 
habitat. Over the past 3 years, approximately $2 million has been 
appropriated for studies of the reproductive capacity of the species, 
methods to eradicate nutria populations, and prospects for restoring 
wetlands destroyed by the critter along Maryland's Eastern Shore. The 
authorization expired in September 2002, and new legislation is needed 
to move to the next phase of a control and ultimately an eradication 
program. Results of the project in phase II are expected to be 
applicable throughout the range of nutria in North America, which 
includes 15 States and potentially over 1 million acres of marsh 
habitat on national wildlife refuges.
  This legislation authorizes the Federal funds necessary to carry out 
the program. I urge adoption of the legislation.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three 
times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 
that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record, with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 273) was read the third time and passed.

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