Hayworth votes to protect Endangered Species Act

WASHINGTON — Rep. Nan Hayworth, M.D. (NY-19) was thanked recently by four environmental groups — Defenders of Wildlife, the League of Conservation Voters, The Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation — for her vote to protect the Endangered Species Act. Hayworth voted in support of the Dicks-Fitzpatrick-Thompson Amendment to Interior Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2584), which strikes language in the underlying bill that would prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing or protecting any threatened or endangered species. This language would have undermined the Endangered Species Act and Congress’s intent that species protection decisions be made by experts relying on sound research. With Hayworth’s support the amendment passed and the language was removed from the bill.