Washington, D.C. – This week, Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) introduced amendments to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, including (1) to defund the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) proposed expansion of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge from 6,400 acres to 700,000 acres and (2) to defund the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) rule to use an endangered species designation of several types of freshwater mussels to federalize over 1,500 miles of Texas rivers.
These two amendments were adopted into the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and passed the House of Representatives.
When speaking on the House floor about his amendment to defund the USFWS’ proposed Muleshoe Expansion, Chairman Arrington said, “I rise to offer an amendment to defund the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to expand the Muleshoe Wildlife Refuge by an unprecedented 1,000%. At a time when we have the highest level of indebtedness in the history of our nation, while we spend almost a trillion dollars in interest to service the debt, the last we need to do is spend money to buy up more land to somehow either appease an environmental group or maybe just achieve – what seems to be an odd objective – having the federal government own and operate a third of our land.”
| Click here to watch Arrington’s speech on the proposed Muleshoe expansion. |
When speaking on the House floor about his amendment to defund the USFWS rule to designate several types of freshwater mussels as endangered, Chairman Arrington said, “The critical habitat that I’m concerned most about is Rural America – the backbone of this country, the breadbasket and the energy basin that’s feeding, clothing, and fueling America. The Biden administration has decided to list six freshwater mussel species that – in their own report, in their own words – is moderately healthy, and, in doing so, jeopardize the livelihoods, the way of life, and the tremendous contributions of our ag and energy producer and lock up 1,500 miles of rivers.”
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