{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://yoder.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/yoder-leads-effort-expressing-concerns-over-new-talks-to-re-list-lesser", "Yoder Leads Effort Expressing Concerns Over New Talks to Re-List Lesser Prairie Chicken as Threatened", "2016-08-04", "2016", "2016-08", "Republican", "House", "KS", "Kevin Yoder", "Y000063", "yoder.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013\u00a0This week, Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and thirteen of his House colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Dan Ashe expressing concerns over recent statements made regarding the potential re-listing\u00a0of the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).\nEarlier this month, USFWS fulfilled a court ruling that had vacated its ESA listing decision by officially removing the LPC from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Following the decision, the agency issued a press release stating that they were in the process of \u201cundertaking a new status review to determine whether listing is again warranted.\u201d\n\u201cThese statements from Fish & Wildlife have confirmed our suspicions,\u201d Representative Yoder said. \u201cThe Administration remains committed to this misguided effort to save a bird that already saw its population increase over the last few years due to local efforts. My amendment to prevent the Administration from reopening its efforts and protect farmers and ranchers from unwanted government overreach passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously. Congress\u2019 intent on this issue is clear, and we\u2019re working to make sure Fish & Wildlife respects that.\u201d\nIn an effort to prevent USFWS from disregarding clear congressional intent, the letter clarifies the language included in the House-passed version of the FY2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that expressly prohibits USFWS from attempting to re-list the LPC under any ESA designation over the next year.\nThe letter was signed by House members from all five of the states with LPC habitats: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico. The thirteen other signers include: Mike Conaway (TX-11), the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Lynn Jenkins (KS-02), Mike Pompeo (KS-04), Tom Cole (OK-04), Frank Lucas (OK-03), Pete Sessions (TX-32), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Jeb Hensarling (TX-05), Will Hurd (TX-23), Markwayne Mullin (OK-02), Scott Tipton (CO-03), Ken Buck (CO-04), and Steve Pearce (NM-02).\u00a0\nThe text of the letter is reproduced below.\n###\nJuly 28, 2016\n\u00a0\nDirector, Dan Ashe\nU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)\n1849 C. Street, NW, ROOM 3331\nWashington, DC 20240\n\u00a0\nDirector Ashe,\nWe write to express our concerns over recent statements you have made regarding the status of the listing of the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Following the bird\u2019s removal from the list of threatened and endangered species, in accordance with the court order issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, your agency issued a press release stating that U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) is \u201cundertaking a new status review to determine whether listing is again warranted.\u201d\nThis assurance is extremely troubling to many of our constituents and we would like clarification on what this \u201cnew status review\u201d looks like and how your agency intends to pay for it, as this would be in direct violation of language included in the House Passed version of the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill. To be clear, we would like to reiterate the intent of the language below.\n\u201cNone of the funds made available by this Act shall be used to treat the lesser prairie chicken as an endangered species or threatened species, or a candidate for listing as such a species, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).\u201d\nThis bill language is intended to prevent USFWS from attempting to re-list the lesser prairie-chicken, under any ESA designation, from now until the end of Fiscal Year 2017. At which time Congress will have the opportunity to re-evaluate the legislation. However, we are confident that efforts being taken at the state and local level will be more than enough to see that the bird\u2019s population continues to rebound.\nWe thank you for your attention to this letter and look forward to your response. If you have any questions about this request, please contact Michael Brooks with Rep. Kevin Yoder at\u00a0(202) 225-2865.\nSincerely,\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nKevin Yoder\nMember of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://yoder.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/yoder-leads-effort-expressing-concerns-over-new-talks-to-re-list-lesser"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.322766998782754, "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"}