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The Green Elephant: Summer 2003
 

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Proud to Praise 'Em!

Late in July, REP America sent thank-you letters to each of the representatives listed below for supporting one or more of the following Interior appropriations amendments. Although not a single amendment passed—which was hugely disappointing—we are glad that a number of Republicans supported them, including several whom we don’t often have reason to praise.

That said, these were all good amendments that deserved to pass. Something is clearly rotten... and it ain’t in Denmark!


The four pro-conservation amendments that the House voted down were:

  • to bar funding for implementing Bush administration revisions to national forest planning regulations. These revisions are fundamentally at odds with the clear legislative direction of the 1976 National Forest Management Act in the area of maintaining diversity of plant and animal communities.
  • to block the Bush administration’s reversal of a 2001 rule phasing out snowmobiles from Yellowstone National Park. This hugely popular proposal went down in a frustrating tied vote: 210-210.
  • to prevent use of federal funds to alter the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which garnered millions of signatures of support.
  • to stop the Interior Department from using a cynical “disclaimer of interest” rule to validate highway right-of-way claims on public lands.

The representatives named in Roman type voted for one of these amendments.

Those named in black italics voted for two of the amendments.

Those named in light green italics voted for three of the amendments.

Those named in bold green voted for all four of the amendments. Hearty REP cheers for them!

AL Spencer Bachus
CA Mary Bono
CT Christopher Shays, Nancy Johnson, Rob Simmons
DE Michael Castle
FL Porter Goss
IA Jim Leach
IL Judy Biggert, Mark Kirk, Timothy Johnson
MD Wayne Gilchrest
MI Vern Ehlers, Fred Upton
MN Jim Ramstad
OH Paul Gillmor, Steve Chabot
NH Charles Bass
NJ Jim Saxton, Christopher Smith, Frank LoBiondo, Rodney Frelinghuysen
NY Amo Houghton, Sherwood Boehlert, Sue Kelly
PA Phil English, Jim Gerlach, Jim Greenwood, Curt Weldon
VA Tom Davis
WV Shelley Moore Capito
WI Thomas Petri, James Sensenbrenner