Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my colleague Senator Boozman in introducing legislation that reauthorizes and makes improvements to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act program has historically had strong bipartisan support, and it has been my honor to champion this program's reauthorization since I was elected to the Senate in 2007. I am pleased to welcome Senator Boozman to this effort after many productive years working with Senator Portman. This is a critical program administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that supports habitat conservation work throughout the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Migratory birds undertake awe-inspiring journeys, from as far north as the boreal forests of Canada and the Artic, to Latin America and the Caribbean. Their journeys require ``habitat anchors'' that the species have relied on for tens of thousands of years to stop over as they make their migratory journeys. The wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay watershed provide one such critical stepping stone for the 500 hundred species that travel along the Atlantic Flyway.

The program enables the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support conservation partners along migratory flyways throughout the Western Hemisphere. This is the only Federal grant program that ensures that the links in the full migratory chain have the conservation support they need.

Since 2002, the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act program has provided more than $89 million in grants to support 717 projects in 43 countries. The projects funded have positively affected more than 5 million acres of bird habitat and spurred partnerships on multiple levels, contributing to an additional $346 million. It has fostered international cooperation and has evolved into a powerful conservation alliance.

Throughout my time in the U.S. Senate, I have worked to improve programs, increase authorization levels, and make funding more accessible. Still, historic funding levels have been disappointing. Congressional appropriations for this popular program are far below what is needed to support this important work, especially as climate change continues to put undue stress on our bird populations and their habitats.

Migratory birds rely on water and its associated habitats--lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, marshes, and coastal wetlands--for breeding, resting and refueling during migration, and wintering. Yet increasing human demand for water, along with climate change, pollution, and other factors are threatening these precious aquatic ecosystems. Global headlines are sounding the alarm: 35 percent of the world's wetlands, critical to migratory birds, have been lost in the last 50 years. Birds provides critical ecosystem services, and when species are lost, their functions and benefits to particular habitats are lost as well. Birds are important to people and the planet; this is exactly why I have made their protection one of my highest priorities in Congress.

Today, I am celebrating the important improvements this bill makes to the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation program and committing to working in a bipartisan manner to provide increased resources to this worthy endeavor.

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