[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 156 (Tuesday, September 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S4677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGES

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   REPORT OF THE VETO OF 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''--PM 22

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, spread in full upon the Journal, and held at the desk:

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.

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