The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday advanced the latest Republican bid to update and remake the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
Chair Bruce Westerman’s amended 58-page bill — approved by a slightly bipartisan vote of 25-16 — addresses some of the trickiest portions of the ESA. Its long-term prospects, though, remain uncertain in a closely divided House and, especially, in the notoriously stubborn Senate.
“The ESA has failed,” the Arkansas Republican said. “The ESA’s primary function today is not to recover species, but to stifle people, to block economic development, clog court dockets, and put businesses and local communities at the mercy of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.”
Most Democrats cast the measure as an industry wish list and utterly without merit. “The bill is deeply harmful to wildlife,” said ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).
