[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12829-12830]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING AMERICAN ZOO AND AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION

  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 408) honoring the American Zoo 
and Aquarium Association and its accredited member institutions for 
their continued service to animal welfare, conservation education, 
conservation research, and wildlife conservation programs.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 408

       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress recognizes and honors the 
     American Zoo and Aquarium Association and its member 
     institutions of zoological parks and aquariums for their 
     dedicated service in animal welfare, conservation education, 
     conservation research, and wildlife conservation programs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands 
(Mrs. Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest).
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, founded in 1924, the American Zoo Association is a 
nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and 
aquariums. AZA institutions draw over 135 million visitors annually and 
have more than 5 million zoo and aquarium members. These institutions 
teach more than 12 million people each year in living classrooms, 
dedicate an estimated $50 million annually to education programs, 
invest an estimated $50 million annually to scientific research, and 
support over 1,300 field conservation research projects in 80 
countries.
  AZA member institutions are a critical component in the conservation 
of marine mammals in the wild through broad-based education research 
and standing recovery rehabilitation programs.
  Additionally, many AZA facilities and scientists collaborate with 
researchers from colleges, universities, and other scientific 
institutions to conduct studies important to species conservation and 
health. AZA facilities have developed species survival plans which are 
cooperative long-term breeding and conservation programs that provide 
many species with an insurance policy against extinction. Some of the 
species covered by these plans include all the great apes, Africa and 
Asian elephants, Siberian and Sumatran tigers, and black, white 
Sumatran and greater one-horned rhinos.
  These cooperative conservation programs support both field and 
institutional research to ensure that these animals are carefully 
managed and maintain a healthy self-sustaining population that is 
genetically diverse and demographically stable.
  AZA institutions across the United States have maintained high 
curatorial and veterinarian standards for zoos and aquariums in 
addition to supporting programs that protect, conserve, and restore 
wild animal populations.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 408 commends the American Zoo and Aquarium 
Association for all the great work they have done, and I urge Members 
to support passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of this concurrent resolution 
recognizing the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for its 
outstanding role in the conservation of the world's biodiversity and 
for its advancement of zoos and aquariums here and abroad.
  Collectively, AZA member institutions draw over 135 million visitors 
each year. This affords the AZA facilities a huge opportunity and 
responsibility to instruct the public on the need to protect and 
conserve the wonders of the natural world.

                              {time}  1545

  The wide variety of public education and interpretive programs made 
available through AZA institutions admirably fulfills this mission, and 
I applaud the AZA for their important work towards developing the next 
generation of wildlife conservation.
  In closing, H. Con. Res. 408 is noncontroversial, and I urge its 
adoption by the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands and the 
staff on both sides of the aisle for supporting this legislation in 
recognizing all of those people, whether it is a tiny zoo in Cecil 
County, Maryland, or Salisbury, Maryland, or the magnificent aquarium 
in Baltimore, Maryland, to zoos and aquariums all across this country 
by trying to understand, and doing a pretty good job of it, of 
understanding the nature of the magnificence of where people fit into 
the natural environment on this blue planet.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee for the 
gentleman's leadership and the work he has done to accommodate the 
needs and unique considerations of the territories as we work on the 
Committee on Resources. We have no members of AZA, but we do

[[Page 12830]]

have Coral World in St. Thomas, and I am hoping at some point in the 
near future they will be a member of this wonderful organization.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Virgin Islands is a beautiful place in the 
Caribbean; that is its own AZA.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. 
Res. 408.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was 
agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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