[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 8, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND ANTI-TRAFFICKING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce the bipartisan Wildlife 
Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018.
  I want to first recognize my good friend and Republican colead on 
this important legislation, Congressman  Don Young from Alaska, dean of 
the House and a longtime conservation leader. I want to thank him for 
his support as the original cosponsor.
  I also want to thank the leading wildlife and marine conservation, 
whistleblower, and animal welfare groups that have endorsed the bill to 
date. The Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act will 
strengthen enforcement against poachers, traffickers, and the global 
trade in illegal wildlife and seafood products.
  Wildlife trafficking; poaching; and illegal, unreported, and 
unregulated fishing rank among the top global crimes, generating 
billions in illicit profits each year for transnational criminal 
organizations and extremist groups. In tackling the global wildlife 
trafficking trade as our bill does, Congress can help to conserve 
iconic wildlife and cut off illicit financing for groups responsible 
for human rights abuses, political corruption, and even terrorism 
worldwide.
  Our bipartisan bill includes enforcement provisions passed by the 
House in November of 2015, by voice vote, which will empower Federal 
prosecutors and law enforcement to combat the global wildlife 
trafficking trade. Importantly, the bill also recognizes the critical 
role that whistleblowers can play in providing the actionable 
intelligence needed to prosecute wildlife poachers and take down 
trafficking rings.
  By incentivizing whistleblowers on wildlife trafficking and related 
crimes to come forward, Congress can increase enforcement and leverage 
existing Federal agency resources and our legal system at no cost to 
the taxpayers. Our bill also includes several provisions that will 
support wildlife conservation worldwide by authorizing a comprehensive 
international wildlife conservation program within the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service; also, stationing law enforcement and agency personnel 
in wildlife trafficking-focused countries identified by the State 
Department; and providing dedicated funding for wildlife, marine 
mammal, sea turtle, and shark conservation at no expense to the 
taxpayers.
  I am especially pleased that our bill provides for marine wildlife 
species which often go overlooked but are increasingly targeted by 
poachers, traffickers, and illegal fishing. The bill also expands the 
Marine Turtle Conservation Fund to make the U.S. territories eligible 
for funding and to provide for the conservation of endangered 
freshwater turtles and tortoises. Many of the world's freshwater turtle 
and tortoise species could become extinct in the next few decades, and 
all sea turtles found in our Nation's territorial waters are listed 
under the Endangered Species Act.
  U.S. territories are home to numerous marine turtle species, 
including the endangered hawksbill and the green sea turtles native to 
Guam and the western Pacific Ocean. Lastly, the bill builds upon the 
success of two laws which I sponsored: the Shark Conservation Act of 
2010 and the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement 
Act of 2015.
  Together with Congressman Young, we have put together a comprehensive 
bill that advances wildlife conservation and continues American 
leadership in tackling wildlife trafficking and the global trade in 
illegal wildlife and seafood products. And we do all this with existing 
Federal resources, at no cost to the taxpayers.
  I urge all Members of the House to join me and Congressman Young in 
cosponsoring the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 
2018.

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