[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4512-4513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT ACT AMENDMENT OF 
                                  2008

  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3891) to amend the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 
Establishment Act to increase the number of Directors on the Board of 
Directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3891

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``National Fish and Wildlife 
     Foundation Establishment Act Amendment of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE FOUNDATION.

       Section 3(a) of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 
     Establishment Act (16 U.S.C. 3702(a)) is amended by striking 
     paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
       ``(1) In general.--The Foundation shall have a governing 
     Board of Directors (referred to in this Act as the `Board'), 
     which shall consist of 30 Directors appointed in accordance 
     with subsection (b), each of whom shall be a United States 
     citizen.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Hawaii.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Hawaii?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 3891, introduced by my colleague from South 
Carolina (Mr. Brown), expands the size of the Board of Directors of the 
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation from 25 to 30 members.
  The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was established by Congress 
in 1984 as a charitable nonprofit corporation. The foundation was 
formed to further the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, 
plants, and other natural resources by the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
  While the foundation and its conservation programs continue to grow 
and fundraising for these programs keeps pace, it is considerably more 
difficult to meet the increasing administrative expenses of the 
foundation. Expanding the size of the board of directors will improve 
the ability of the foundation to raise private funds, to cover its 
administrative expenses, and to improve the implementation of its 
conservation programs.
  I commend Congressman Henry Brown, again, a good friend of many of us 
here in the Congress and a friend of the Natural Resources, for 
introducing this bill, and urge all Members to support it.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3891. It 
does increase by five members the Board of Directors on the National 
Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
  Since its inception, this foundation has financed more than 9,500 
conservation projects to sustain, restore, and enhance fish wildlife 
population and their essential habitat. Under current law, the 
Secretary of the Interior may appoint 25 individuals to serve on the 
Board of Directors. These members have expertise in fish, wildlife, 
natural resources, and conservation. They serve as conservation 
ambassadors, and they approve projects submitted to the foundation, and 
raise funds for the operation of this successful organization. The 
additional five members will help to enhance that job description. I 
urge my colleagues to vote favorably on H.R. 3891.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Madam Speaker, before yielding back the balance of 
my time, and I will do so, I have a brief closing insert that I would 
like to read from Congresswoman Bordallo who, as I indicated, finds it 
impossible to be here today at this time. She says as follows:
  Madam Speaker, as Chairwoman on the Subcommittee on Fisheries, 
Wildlife, Oceans, I reiterate that the Natural Resources Committee 
supports this bill as a means to maximize community participation in 
the activities of the Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
  It is our expectation, that is to say Congresswoman Bordallo's 
expectation, that the foundation will view this expansion of its Board 
of Directors as an opportunity to increase the diversity of 
professional backgrounds and views that board members bring to the 
foundation, and also that the Secretary of the Interior will appoint 
qualified individuals, hopefully with conservation experience in the 
offshore territories.
  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on 
H.R. 3891, a bill I introduced with Fisheries, Oceans and Wildlife 
Subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo. The fundamental purpose of 
this legislation is to increase from 25 to 30 the number of members who 
may serve on the Board of Directors of the National Fish and Wildlife 
Foundation.
  The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was created by Congress in 
1984. Since that time, it has financed more than 9,500 conservation 
projects throughout the United States and in other countries. By using 
a partnership and challenge grant approach, the Foundation has provided 
$1.3 billion in critical funding to accomplish its strategic goals of 
sustaining, restoring and enhancing fish, wildlife and plant 
populations and their essential habitat.
  Under current law, the Secretary of the Interior may appoint up to 25 
individuals to serve on the Foundation's Board of Directors. The 
members of this Board have expertise in fish, wildlife and natural 
resource conservation; they serve as conservation Ambassadors 
throughout the world; they review and approve projects submitted to the 
Foundation and they raise funds for the operation of this highly 
successful organization.

[[Page 4513]]

  By increasing the size of the Board, we will greatly enhance the 
Foundation's ability to finance additional meritorious projects in the 
future.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yea'' on H.R. 3891.
  Mr. ABERCROMBIE. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. Abercrombie) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3891, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________