{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2146", "Case and Tokuda Introduce Measure To Combat Invasive Species in Hawai\u2018i", "2023-04-28", "2023", "2023-04", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Ed Case", "C001055", "case.house.gov", "case", "https://case.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27&Page=14", "scraper", "(Washington, DC) - Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), and Congresswoman Jill Tokuda (HI-02) announced the introduction of their Hawai\u2019i Invasive Species Protection Act, a bill to require that baggage and cargo transporting into the State of Hawai\u2018i by air or sea be pre-inspected for invasive species and high-risk agricultural materials, in the same manner as similar baggage and cargo transported to the U.S. mainland must be inspected pre-departure.\n\n\u201cInvasive species pose an especially grave threat to Hawaii\u2019s unique ecosystems, natural resources, and agricultural communities, in part due to Hawaii\u2019s unique geography,\u201d said Rep. Ed Case. \u201cHawai\u2018i is the most isolated island chain and one of the most ecologically diverse places in the world.\n\n\u201cHowever, tragically, in large part due to invasive species, Hawai\u2018i has become the endangered species and extinction capital of the world. The Pacific Islands are home to 44% of the threatened and endangered species listed under the Endangered Species Act, and Hawai\u2018i currently has 468 species listed as endangered, more than any other state and almost half of the total endangered species nationwide.\u201d\n\nCase continued: \u201cMany of these species are critically endangered and face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Although we will never know the true number of species that have gone extinct in Hawai\u2018i, in 2021 alone nine Hawaiian species were declared extinct.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re losing the war against invasive pests and diseases in Hawai\u2018i, and our farmers and producers are paying the price. Every year more invasive pests and diseases enter and establish themselves in our state, and there are fewer resources for control and management. It\u2019s hard enough to put food on our tables and shelves, and these threats to agriculture further threaten food security in Hawai\u02bbi,\u201d said Rep. Jill Tokuda.\n\n\u201cThis bill is a needed first step to turn the tide on invasives by providing federal resources to prevent invasive species from even reaching Hawai\u2018i. I look forward to continuing to fight for increased biosecurity in Hawai\u2018i in the 2023 Farm Bill.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur bill, the Hawai\u2018i Invasive Species Protection Act, will require the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with other federal departments and the State of Hawai\u2018i, to conduct visual, x-ray and canine inspections, as appropriate, on person, baggage, cargo and any other article destined for direct movement to the State of Hawai\u2018i,\u201d said Case.\n\n\u201cThe inspections will search for high-risk invasive species and agricultural materials. The inspections will be conducted at airports, ports, and postal sorting facilities prior to direct travel to the State of Hawai\u2018i.\n\n\u201cOur bill further requires APHIS to work with the State of Hawai\u2018i to develop and publish a list of the high-risk invasive species and agricultural materials for the State of Hawai\u2018i. It pays for these inspections by increasing Agriculture Quarantine Inspection fees to cover the full cost of inspection.\u201d\n\nAttachments:\n\n\u00b7 Case full House remarks on the introduction of the bill\n\n\u00b7 Picture of coffee berry borer, courtesy Hawai\u2018i State Department of Agriculture\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:44:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2146"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9534289129078388, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}