91 



BULK. BREWSTER 



WASHINGTON OFFICE 



J LONGwoftTH HOUSE Office BUILI 



Washington, DC 2051&-3603 



1202) 325-4565 



Congregs; of t\)t United States 



Jlouge of EeprtsiEntatibESi 



SHashington, ffiC 20515-3603 



Statement of 



Congressman Bill K. Brewster (D-OK) 



before the 



House Committee on Resources 



May 15, 1996 



McAieSTES OK 745 

 3W 7th Avenue. Sui 



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-++I I I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I M I I I I I 



Thank you Mr. Chairman, 

 important issue. 



: appreciate the opportunity to testify- before your Committee on this 



As you know, I served as Chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus in the 103rd Congress 

 and I continue to be very active in legislative issues affecting hunting and fishing. I am also a very 

 avid outdoor sportsman. As such, I opposed to baiting, as any true hunter would also be. However, 

 Mr. Chairman, as the Florida incident so clearly displays, we have a problem with the cijifrent law. 



Mr. Chairman, it is my belief that a crime cannot be committed without intent. Herem lies the basis 

 of my complaint with the current regulations governing the enforcement of federal baiting laws. 

 Current regulations do not require the proving of intent for an enforcement procedure to occur. 

 Another concern I have with the current regulations include the vagueness of several key definitions 

 which opens to door for a broad range of interpretation by enforcement agencies. 



Regarding intent, 1 am not aware of the specifics of the Florida incident, but 1 am aware of several 

 other cases in. which individuals were accused of hunting over a baited field although they had no 

 knowledge that the field was in any way altered in an illegal manner. ."X hunter can inquire of the 

 landowner as to the legality of a t"ield, and still be held liable should the landowner lie to him. This is 

 not right. Some, if not all of the responsibility should lie with the landowner. Many of America's 

 hunters do not own their own land on which to hunt. They must acquire access to hunting lands 

 through simple permission or payment of a daily or seasonal lease. 



Many of these hunters are at the mercy of the landowner. They are not resident to the land. They are 

 not present to view every "farming practice'" that has occurred on the land in the past ten days. I am 

 not saying that hunters should be free from all responsibility. However, they can do all within their 

 power to maintain a legal standing and still be found guilty of hunting over a baited field even if the 

 hunter has no knowledge of the field being baited and no intention of hunting over a baited field. We 

 need to work together to reform the current regulations to protect the innocent sportsman in a 

 situation such as this. 



Mr. Chairman, we need to maintain strict fines for those individuals guilty of purposefully baiting a 



