While there are very few cockatoos, finches, or parakeets living in Alaska, this 

 law has generated a tremendous amount of controversy. In fact, this Subcommittee 

 has received hundreds of letters from Americans throughout this country who hon- 

 estly believe that the U.S. Fish and WildUfe Service is intent on reducing the num- 

 ber of breeders, confiscating their pets, and making it virtually impossible to legally 

 import a captive-bred exotic bird into the country. 



If that is the case, then that is a wrong and misguided interpretation of the law 

 which has as one of its goals the "sustainable utilization of exotic birds to create 

 economic value in them and their habitat, which wovild contribute to their conserva- 

 tion and promote maintenance of biological diversity." 



I am also concerned that for the second consecutive year the CUnton Administra- 

 tion has failed to request any money for the Wild Bird Conservation Act. If this law 

 is no longer required or is not priority, then it should be repealed. 



If this law is important, then the Clinton Administration has an obligation to stop 

 stealing funds from other fish and wildlife programs, like our refuge system, and 

 to pay the administrative and law enforcement costs of the WBCA. 



Finally, it is my hope that our distinguished witnesses will tell us whether they 

 feel the Wild Bird Conservation Act has been effective, whether it has been properly 

 administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and what changes, if any, are 

 needed to P.L. 102-440. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Statement of Hon. Gerry E. Studds, a U.S. Representative from 

 Massachusetts 



Once upon a time, not so long ago, in lands far away, lots of bad people were tak- 

 ing lots and lots of young, exotic birds out of their tropical nests. The birds were 

 stuffed inside empty tires, shipped through ports and over routes used by drug 

 smugglers, then sold commercially for a premium in the United States. 



Needless to say, many of these birds did not Uve happily ever after — which is why 

 the Congress attempted in 1992 to assess the biological impact of the enormous do- 

 mestic demand for exotic birds. 



We learned that the United States is far and away the largest market for the pet 

 trade and captive breeding, and that this demand was clearly jeopardizing the 

 health of their native populations. 



We learned that an enormous number of birds — an estimated 100,000 a year — 

 were dying in transport. 



And we learned by heart the fairy tales about Fish and Wildlife personnel, storm- 

 ing late at night out of black heUcopters, snatching bird-cages out of the homes of 

 devoted and terrified cockatoo owners. 



The moral is not that the 1992 statute passed unanimously in both the House and 

 Senate, and was signed into law by President Bush. 



Or even that, as we sought qviiet consensus three years ago, the 1992 bill was 

 supported by some of the same groups which today call for its repeal. 



It doesn't even matter that many people have a hard time taking the problems 

 of finches and lovebirds seriously. 



The point is the law has worked. Bird smuggling and laundering — operations run 

 in many cases by the same people who smuggle illegal drugs, and with the same 

 motives — have been severely undermined. 



Weakening this statute now wovild mean budding to the pressures of misinforma- 

 tion, and would risk doing unnecessary harm to entire species. 



As we will hear this morning, we may need to address some inequities in the stat- 

 ute. However, whUe I reaUze the environmental record of this Congress has not 

 stressed subtlety and nuance, I would respectfully suggest that it may be possible 

 to shoot at this target with something smaller than an elephant gun. 



Mr, Saxton. Our first witness is the gentleman fi*om Illinois, 

 Tom Ewing, We are going to hear Mr. Ewing and then perhaps we 

 will have a question or two for him, and then we will go on to the 

 next panel. Tom, thank you for being with us this morning. You 

 are recognized for your contribution. 



