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-- <May 6,
2004>
Bordallo’s
Brown Tree Snake
Bill to Receive Hearing
Guam Leaders will Testify via Videoconference
in ‘Midnight Meeting’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 6, 2004 – Washington,
D.C. – The Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication
Act of 2003, introduced by Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo last
November, will be heard next Thursday, May 13, 2004, by the House
Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation,
Wildlife and Oceans. The legislation is a product of collaboration
between Congresswoman Bordallo, Congressman Neil Abercrombie (D-HI),
Congressman Ed Case (D-HI), the Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, and
other key Federal, State, and territorial stakeholders in both Guam
and Hawaii. Both Congresswoman Bordallo and Congressman Abercrombie
are members of the Fisheries Subcommittee that will meet to receive
views on the bill next week.
The legislation, H.R. 3479, establishes a Brown Tree Snake Control
and Eradication Committee to coordinate Federal policy with State
and local efforts. In addition, it increases authorized funding
levels for brown tree snake control, research, prevention and eradication
activities. The legislation, as introduced, would authorize Federal
agencies to spend up to $18 million each year from 2005 to 2010
to escalate Federal, State, and local efforts to control and eradicate
this invasive species in the Pacific.
“My approach is that control of the brown tree snake
is not enough. Our goal should be large-scale reduction and eradication.
This legislation tackles the brown tree snake problem head on, providing
coordinated and comprehensive federal support for both control and
eradication, which is key,” Bordallo said.
The House Resources Committee has invited Governor Felix P. Camacho,
Speaker Vicente “Ben” C. Pangelinan, and Mr. Paul Bassler,
Director of the Guam Department of Agriculture to provide oral testimony
on H.R. 3479 via videoconference. This “midnight meeting”
will take place in Congresswoman Bordallo’s District Office
where their testimony will be transmitted directly to the Subcommittee.
Members of the Subcommittee will be able to ask questions in real
time as if they were in the same room. Other interested persons
and members of the media are invited to the Congresswoman’s
District Office conference room to observe the hearing.
“Technology can help bridge the geographic distance
between Guam and Washington, D.C. This ‘midnight meeting,’
expands the opportunities for Guam leaders to provide testimony
to Congress when a trip to Washington is not feasible,”
Bordallo said.
The brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis, is a non-native invasive
species presumably introduced to Guam in the late 1950s-early 1960s
on military cargo. This alien predator has no natural enemies in
Guam and is the reason for the placement of many indigenous bird
species on the endangered and threatened species list. Scientific
studies indicate that twelve species of bird unique to Guam have
disappeared as a direct result of brown tree snake predation. The
State of Hawaii and other Pacific islands are especially vulnerable
to the spread of the brown tree snake due to air and maritime commerce
and military movements between Guam and these islands.
###
Contact: Neil Weare
in Washington, D.C., at (202) 225-1188 or Joaquin
Perez in Guam at (671) 477-4272.
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