[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 161 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONTROL AND ERADICATION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 2003

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to join with my colleague 
from Guam, Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, and Congressman Neil 
Abercrombie from Hawaii, to introduce the Brown Tree Snake Control and 
Eradication Act of 2003.
  This legislation proposes a long-overdue comprehensive approach, 
through the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, to eradicate the 
brown tree snake in Guam and to prevent its introduction to affected 
jurisdictions in the Pacific, including my home state of Hawaii.
  The devastating ecological, economic, and human health impacts of the 
brown tree snake have been long known among the affected jurisdictions 
in the Pacific and the federal, state, and territorial agencies charged 
with implementing brown tree snake preventative control programs.
  However, it is clear that unless we address this challenge with a 
long-term, coordinated, and comprehensive approach, Guam will continue 
to struggle with the adverse impacts of the brown tree snake, and we in 
Hawaii will increasingly risk the introduction of the snake into our 
fragile environment. A total of eight brown tree snakes have been found 
live or dead in Hawaii since the mid-1980s. All have been associated 
with the movement of civilian and military vehicles or cargo from Guam.
  As background, the brown tree snake was accidently introduced into 
Guam in the late 1940s and 1950s, likely via U.S. military cargo, from 
an area in the Pacific where the snakes are native. Unfortunately, 
because Guam had no natural predator but abundant prey, the brown tree 
snake population spread throughout the island.
  Because the brown tree snake's preferred prey is birds, it is 
directly responsible for the extinction of 9 of 13 native forest birds 
and 3 of 12 native lizards on Guam. Economically, the snakes have 
caused more than 1600 power outages over a 20-year period in Guam, 
costing the island $4.5 million per year without considering their 
impact on transformers, and damages inside electrical substations. The 
disruptions affect all aspects of everyday life in homes and work, as 
well as for the government and the business community.

  In Hawaii, the brown tree snake represents one of the greatest 
terrestrial ecological threats due to its potential impact on our 
endangered bird species, which are found nowhere else on earth. As a 
result of Hawaii's geographical isolation and lush environment, there 
were more than 140 endemic bird species in the islands prior to human 
contact. Today, among the remaining 71 endemic forms, 30 are federally 
listed as endangered, and fifteen of these are on the brink of 
extinction. Any negative impact on our native bird species in Hawaii 
will inevitably impact our native flora as well. Hawaii has the highest 
known number of endemic terrestrial plants of any major island group.
  Economically, a University of Hawaii study estimates that the 
introduction of the brown tree snake to Hawaii will cause between $28 
million and $450 million annually in electrical power outages. This 
does not include the potential devastation to our agriculture industry. 
In Guam, the brown tree snake has contributed to the decline in 
production of the island's agriculture industry, particularly the 
commercial poultry industry, because the snakes eat eggs and chicks. 
The snake has also impacted the growing of fruits and vegetables 
because insects that are no longer naturally controlled by birds and 
lizards inflict increased damage on crops.
  To address the brown tree snake problem, a Brown Tree Snake Control 
Committee was established subsequent to provisions in the Nonindigenous 
Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. A multi-agency 
Memorandum of Agreement on Brown Tree Snake Control was also signed in 
1992 and renewed in 1999. However, it expires in March 2004.
  The Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication Act of 2003 will 
statutorily authorize the Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication 
Committee to ensure the ongoing activities of federal agencies, enhance 
the effectiveness of the present Committee, provide the necessary 
resources from agencies actually conducting the work, and strengthen 
the coordination between federal and regional stakeholders in Hawaii 
and the Pacific in a more systemic fashion.
  Among the authorized activities is the expansion of science-based 
eradication and control programs in Guam; the expansion of interagency 
and intergovernmental rapid response teams in Guam, the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii; the expansion of science-
based efforts to protect and restore native wildlife in Guam or 
elsewhere damaged by the brown tree snake; continuation and expansion 
of sustained research funding from the Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, and National Wildlife Research 
Center; and the expansion of long-term research into chemical and 
biological control techniques that could lead to large-scale reduction 
of brown tree snake populations in Guam.
  This legislation is a product of collaboration between my office, the 
offices of Congresswoman Bordallo and Congressman Abercombie, the 
Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, and other key federal, state, and 
territorial stakeholders in the region.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on this vital issue.

                          ____________________