13 



here. I was proud when I was a member of this Committee. I am 

 proud of what you do. 



And I do want you to know, Mr. Chairman, I am one of those — 

 there are few a people running around this place who occasionally 

 suggest that maybe we need to reorganize the structure of the com- 

 mittees around here to perhaps deal with some of the problems 

 they have with committees like Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

 and I always make it very plain it is a great committee, it does 

 great work, has important jurisdiction, it does extraordinarily good 

 work, has a proud history of accomplishment in the public interest. 



Mr. Studds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is one of the rea- 

 sons you are always welcome. 



Mr. DiNGELL. Thank you. 



Mr. Studds. And now we will go to one of our most distinguished 

 visitors, who is coming back again, the distinguished Secretary of 

 the Interior. 



We welcome you back. You are probably the member of the Cabi- 

 net whose departure is most often rumored. We, for one at least, 

 are very happy that you are here and we are very proud of what 

 you have done. We welcome you back and the floor is yours. 



STATEMENT OF HON. BRUCE BABBITT, SECRETARY, 

 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



Secretary Babbitt. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I have 

 a written statement which I would like simply, with your permis- 

 sion, to put into the record and then just make a few very brief 

 comments. 



Mr. Studds. Without objection. 



Secretary Babbitt. Congressman Dingell has covered indeed 

 much of the ground in my testimony. I would simply say this legis- 

 lation, the process by which the money is aimed toward projects, 

 first through the Council at the bureaucratic level, and then 

 through the Commission which incorporates the concerns of Mem- 

 bers of Congress, the private sector, and the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, has proven, in my judgment, to be extraordinarily success- 

 ful. 



That is reflected in the Administration's appropriation request 

 for this year, which bumps right up against the ceiling. That is a 

 reflection of this Administration's commitment to this program. It 

 is a reflection of the extraordinary success in achieving matching 

 money. The statutory match rate, as I understand it, is 1 to 1, but 

 as has already been pointed out, the running average of match 

 rates of projects is much closer to 2 to 1. 



I would like to say a word about the international aspect of this, 

 because, obviously, it is an incredibly important piece of migratory 

 waterfowl management and I think this program marks a singular 

 success in North American wildlife management. This is a subject 

 which has obviously been discussed a great deal in terms of the 

 NAFTA legislation and other places. The plain fact is that we have 

 on the ground already operating here an extraordinary example of 

 North American cooperation. 



I was in Mexico last month and had occasion to have a close look 

 at the merging effort at wetlands protection and biodiversity pro- 

 tection in Mexico and it is really quite an extraordinary story. 



82-821 0-94-2 



