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Vote Check: Republicans Vote Against Increasing Hunting Fees for the Federal Government to Buy More Private Land

July 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a markup of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Penalty and Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1916), which increases the cost of the federal duck stamp (used as a hunting permit) from $15 to $25 in 2010 and mandates the federal government use all proceeds to acquire more private land.

“When the American people are suffering real economic pain with too many of our constituents having lost their jobs, their savings, and even their homes, we should not be considering legislation that simply fattens the federal coffers by raising prices on Americans in order for the government to purchase more private land,” said Ranking Member Doc Hastings. “Republicans were successful in making some improvements to this bill, specifically by passing amendments to eliminate the price increase to $35, protect citizens from land condemnation, and ensure hunting remains affordable for young adults, senior citizens, the disabled, military personal and veterans. Unfortunately, my Democrat colleagues voted against amendments that would have limited government acquisition of private land and allowed this money to be used for other beneficial purposes including operation and maintenance of current refuge land, payments to counties with refuge land, and hunting and fishing programs for the disabled.”

Click here to read Ranking Member Hastings’ opening statement expressing Republican concerns with the bill.

VOTE CHECK

Rep. Hastings of Washington Amendment #36 – Setting $100 Million Cap on Fish and Wildlife Land Acquisition

This amendment would keep the price of a duck stamp at the current $15 level if in the prior year, the Fish and Wildlife Service had $100 million to spend on land acquisition. This figure of $100 million is calculated by totaling the funds appropriated in the land acquisition account, the North Americans Wetland Conservation Act account, and the prior year’s duck stamp collections. If the federal government has $100 million dollars to buy land for refuges, Congress shouldn’t charge every duck hunter in America another $10 a year in order to purchase more private land.

Recorded Vote: 17 YEA, 25 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	YEA
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	YEA
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	NAY	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	YEA
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	YEA
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	NAY
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	NAY
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Rep. Hastings of Washington Amendment # 010 – Eliminating Price Increase if Unemployment is 8 Percent or Higher

Earlier this year, President Obama’s chief economist said that, “Unemployment would reach just over 8 percent, and would be contained at under 8 percent with a stimulus package.” But more than five months after passing the stimulus, unemployment has reached 9.5 percent nationally, a 26 year high, and is climbing towards 10 percent. This amendment would ensure that the price of a duck stamp doesn’t increase if unemployment is above the 8 percent rate that President Obama and the Democrat Congress promised the Americans people wouldn’t be breached if the stimulus bill was enacted.

Recorded Vote: 17 YEA, 24 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	YEA
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	YEA
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	NAY	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	YEA
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	YEA
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	-
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	NAY
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Hastings of Washington Amendment #27 – Dedicating at Least Half of Increase to Operations and Maintenance in National Wildlife Refuge System

The National Wildlife Refuge System currently has a $2.6 billion operations-and-maintenance backlog with 3,348 “mission critical” projects pending completion. This amendment would require that at least half of the $10 dollar increase be spent on operations-and-maintenance projects and that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission would have the responsibility to decide if any of the additional 50 percent of the increased funds would be set aside for that purpose.

Recorded Vote: 14 YEA, 23 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	-
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	-
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	NAY	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	-
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	YEA
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	NAY
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	-
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Rep. Broun of Georgia Amendment #1– Supporting Hunting and Fishing for Disabled Americans

This amendment would direct some of the price increase towards hunting and fishing programs for disabled Americans in National Wildlife Refuges.

Recorded Vote: 14 YEA, 25 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	-
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	YEA
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	-	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	-
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	NAY
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	NAY
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	NAY
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Rep. Broun of Georgia Amendment #8– Supporting Urban and Low Income Hunting and Fishing Programs

In order to encourage more children from cities to go hunting and fishing, this amendment would direct some of the revenue increase towards urban, low income hunting and fishing education programs in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Recorded Vote: 15 YEA, 26 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	YEA
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	YEA
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	NAY	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	-
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	NAY
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	NAY
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	NAY
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Rep. Chaffetz of Utah Amendment # 4 – Increasing Payments to State and Local Governments with Wildlife Refuges

This amendment would deposit the revenue increase into the Refuge Revenue Sharing Program, which compensates state and local governments for non-taxable, federally-owned National Wildlife Refuges. This program is parallel to the Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program for Bureau of Land Management lands.

Recorded Vote: 16 YEA, 25 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	NAY	Mr. Hastings	YEA
Mr. Miller	NAY	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	YEA
Mr. Kildee	NAY	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	NAY	Mr. Flake	YEA
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	YEA
Mr. Abercrombie	NAY	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	YEA
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	NAY	Mr. Bishop	YEA
Mr. Holt	NAY	Mr. Shuster	YEA
Mr. Grijalva	NAY	Mr. Lamborn	YEA
Mrs. Bordallo	NAY	Mr. Adrian Smith	YEA
Mr. Costa	NAY	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	NAY	Mr. Broun	YEA
Mr. Sablan	NAY	Mr. Fleming	YEA
Mr. Heinrich	NAY	Mr. Coffman	YEA
Mr. Hinchey	NAY	Mr. Chaffetz	YEA
Mrs. Christensen	NAY	Mrs. Lummis	-
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	YEA
Mr. Kind	NAY	Mr. Cassidy	YEA
Mrs. Capps	NAY
Mr. Inslee	NAY
Mr. Baca	NAY
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	NAY
Mr. Sarbanes	NAY
Ms. Shea-Porter	NAY
Ms. Tsongas	NAY
Mr. Kratovil	NAY
Mr. Pierluisi	NAY

Reporting H.R. 1916 out of Committee

Recorded Vote: 26 YEA, 16 NAY
Representative	Vote	Representative	Vote
Mr. Rahall	YEA	Mr. Hastings	NAY
Mr. Miller	YEA	Mr. Young	-
Mr. Markey	-	Mr. Gallegly	NAY
Mr. Kildee	YEA	Mr. Duncan	-
Mr. DeFazio	YEA	Mr. Flake	NAY
Mr. Faleomavaega	-	Mr. Brown	NAY
Mr. Abercrombie	YEA	Mrs. McMorris Rodgers	NAY
Mr. Pallone	-	Mr. Gohmert	-
Mrs. Napolitano	YEA	Mr. Bishop	NAY
Mr. Holt	YEA	Mr. Shuster	NAY
Mr. Grijalva	YEA	Mr. Lamborn	NAY
Mrs. Bordallo	YEA	Mr. Adrian Smith	NAY
Mr. Costa	YEA	Mr. Wittman	YEA
Mr. Boren	YEA	Mr. Broun	NAY
Mr. Sablan	YEA	Mr. Fleming	NAY
Mr. Heinrich	YEA	Mr. Coffman	NAY
Mr. Hinchey	YEA	Mr. Chaffetz	NAY
Mrs. Christensen	YEA	Mrs. Lummis	NAY
Ms. DeGette	-	Mr. McClintock	NAY
Mr. Kind	YEA	Mr. Cassidy	NAY
Mrs. Capps	YEA
Mr. Inslee	YEA
Mr. Baca	YEA
Ms. Herseth Sandlin	YEA
Mr. Sarbanes	YEA
Ms. Shea-Porter	YEA
Ms. Tsongas	YEA
Mr. Kratovil	YEA
Mr. Pierluisi	YEA

# # #

Ranking Member,
Doc Hastings (WA-4)

Congressional Website

Republican Committee Membership:
Doc Hastings (WA-4)
Don Young (AK-AL)
Elton Gallegly (CA-24)
John Duncan Jr. (TN-2)
Jeff Flake (AZ-6)
Henry Brown Jr., (SC-1)
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5)
Louie Gohmert (TX-1)
Rob Bishop (UT-1)
Bill Shuster (PA-9)
Doug Lamborn (CO-5)
Adrian Smith (NE-3)
Robert J. Wittman (VA-1)
Paul Broun (GA-10)
John Fleming (LA-4)
Mike Coffman (CO-6)
Jason Chaffetz (UT-3)
Cynthia M. Lummis (WY-AL)
Tom McClintock (CA-4)
Bill Cassidy (LA-6)

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