Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of one of our nation’s strongest and most successful environmental laws:  the Endangered Species Act.  Passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by President Richard Nixon, the Act was the first comprehensive law to address the global extinction crisis.

The Endangered Species Act took a zero-tolerance approach to achieving its goals:  no new extinctions, no exceptions. As a result, 99 percent of listed species have been saved from extinction and are on the path to recovery.  Some iconic American species, such as the bald eagle, the American alligator, and the Pacific gray whale, have recovered from the brink of extinction and are now thriving in their natural habitats. Beyond the preservation of individual species, the Endangered Species Act helps to keep the interdependent web of live strong.

Today, conservation efforts under the Endangered Species Act are a model for preserving biodiversity around the world. Unfortunately, some in Congress have suggested that weakening provisions of the Act would somehow yield greater benefits for the species it was designed to protect. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Endangered Species Act, I am committed to protecting our nation’s strongest and most successful environmental law.

Keeping America Safe, On and Off the Battlefield

Congress has taken another step in the ongoing and urgent effort to prevent suicide among members of our armed forces.  A new defense bill that passed earlier this month included a provision I wrote to increase suicide prevention and outreach services for key segments of our Guard and Reserve.

These are specific pools of reservists who, when not assigned to active duty units, live and work among us in our communities in their civilian occupations. As such, they lack the ready access to mental health resources available to their active duty counterparts.  My provision enables the Adjutant General of any state to request from the Pentagon address data for reservists in his or her state for the purpose of conducting suicide prevention and outreach activities.

The provision is an outgrowth of the Sergeant Coleman S. Bean Individual Ready Reserve Suicide Prevention Act, which I introduced in 2010 following the death by suicide of Sgt. Bean, an East Brunswick reservist about whom I have written previously.

The defense bill also included a provision I wrote to authorize a top-to-bottom review of programs in the Department of Defense to recruit and retain scientists, technology experts, mathematicians, and engineers.  This amendment is a direct outgrowth of my work on the National Commission on Research and Development in the U.S. Intelligence Community, which published our final report this summer. It is imperative that American find, train, and retain world-class talent in these fields.  The security of our nation quite literally depends on it.

Working For You

Recently, I was contacted by a Plainsboro veteran who is working hard to put himself through graduate school.  Due to his past military service, he is eligible to receive federal tuition support – but although he had submitted a claim to the VA months earlier, his school still hadn’t received any payment.  I reached out to the VA to resolve the problem, and the tuition payment was quickly made.

Have you encountered a similar problem with the VA, Social Security, Medicare, a passport center, or any other federal agency? If so, please call me at 1-87-RUSH-HOLT or by sending an e-mail. I’ll do all I can to address your problem.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress