It's crunch time, folks! Please contact your elected officials (see below) and make your points, spread the word and share with your lists -- doing these 3 things is VERY important and This Week is the time! 

The transportation bill -- both the House and Senate versions -- is now in Conference Committee and must be in its final form by June 29th. This Week is when we Must make Clear that ALL of very dangerous Section 166, currently in the Senate version, MUST BE STRICKEN from the bill! 

The House version is "the only way to go" -- it doesn't even HAVE a Section 166! 

Even if all "Invasive Species" language is removed, Section 166 still contains provisions for statewide plant inventories (which include private property). There can be NO compromise language in the final version -- that is what we must stress when making our calls/sending our emails and faxes. 

This is a win for us all, but we must all get involved This Week, for the few minutes it takes to place a call to 877-762-8762 (toll-free to Congress), send a fax or email. 

Below are 14 brief Talking Points for you to use as you wish. Following those are 6 reasons why Section 166 MUST leave this bill. Lastly, contact information is provided. Thanks in advance for your help! 

Talking Points SAFETEA “Invasive Species” 

1. The Transportation Bill is now in conference committee where the House and Senate iron out their differences to come up with a final bill. 

2. The House version (HR 3 or TEA LU) is intentionally silent on “Invasive Species.” The Senate version (S.732 or SAFETEA) contains Section 166 that introduces “Invasive Species.” There are other references to “Invasive Species,” but Section 166 is the key passage. 

3. “Invasive Species” is the latest scare agenda. It is a major part of Biodiversity, Agenda 21, native ecosystems and other preservationist plans for control. 

4. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been a disaster for selected people, but “Invasive Species” is even worse. It calls for regulation, restriction and prohibition of pets, game animals, fish, domestic livestock, plant life (including gardens) and aquatic species. Those pushing this are using as their litmus test a species’ presence in North America prior to European settlement or 1492. Their agenda: “Native” equals good. ”Nonnative” equals bad. 

5. “Invasive Species” was introduced onto the national scene via the Al Gore-inspired Executive Order (E.O.) by President Clinton: E.O. 13112, “Invasive Species,” February 3, 1999. Most state governors have, at least in part, followed this E.O. 

6. The definition of “Invasive Species” is fraught with problems: “The term 'invasive plant species' means a nonindigenous species, the introduction of which causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” “Likely” and “environmental harm” are subjective and are used to mean anything that wasn't present in North America in 1492. History shows that “Invasive Species” are whatever environmentalists say they are. 

7. To date, all government actions have been by policy and quasi-regulation through E.O. 13112 because there are no “Invasive Species” laws. 

8. The Federal government is currently spending over $1Billion annually on “Invasive Species,” most of it on questionable research, publications, meetings, grants, partnerships, bureaucracy-building, etc. 

9. Over twenty federal agencies are involved with the “Invasive Species” agenda. 

10. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is positioning itself to be the lead agency over “Invasive Species.” 

11. The EPA’s quest for “Invasive Species” power was recently enhanced by the San Francisco Federal District Court decision mandating the EPA to take charge of “biological pollution,” the environmentalists’ synonym for “Invasive Species” -- and this was done without benefit of law. 

12. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now mapping “Invasive Species” on government and private property using GPS/GIS. 

13. Energy production -- already impacted by Department of Interior (DOI) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "Invasive Species" requirements -- now falls victim to “Invasive Species” monitoring and control on energy production sites, as well as surrounding massive buffer zones. 

14. Individual actions on private property have already been effectively regulated by State and Federal agencies without benefit of law. 

Why is Section 166 of SAFETEA so dangerous?

 1. Section 166 inserts the major, new environmental agenda of “Invasive Species” into U.S. law by way of a few short lines in a $295 Billion must-pass bill. No Senate hearings were held to warn of the dangers of “Invasive Species." 

2. Section 166 calls for control of nonnative (“invasive”) species and the establishment of native species with no specific consideration of utility -- erosion control, expense, aesthetics, etc. According to Section 166: Native = good. Nonnative = bad. 

3. Section 166 calls for plant inventories ... statewide. This is a federally-financed inducement to turn up threatened/endangered species and “species of concern.” It is an open invitation for costly and project-crippling litigation. Gas tax dollars will fund environmental organizations, as they will be the ones conducting the inventories.  

4. Section 166 entails regional habitat conservation and mitigation. Habitat is the buzzword for ESA action. It is also common sense that areas adjacent to high-speed highways should be designed to discourage dangerous animal crossings, bird flight, etc. "Regional habitat conservation" has nothing to do with building or improving highways. 

5. Section 166 provides for "training." Training assumes that State highway personnel are ignorant of their own domain and need “Invasive Species” instruction from environmentalist organizations and radicals within the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Training is a catch-all term that siphons highway dollars for “Invasive Species” brochures, meetings, partnerships, and the building of “Invasive Species” bureaucracies. "Training" is a funding machine for environmental organizations.

 6. Section 166 must be removed, and quickly, because Chief House negotiator Rep. Don Young (R-AK), in the June 13, 2005, Washington Post, said, “There will be no more extensions.” 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201238.html 

It’s now or never to remove Section 166 entirely from SAFETEA.  

Contact Information 

What can I do to help prevent “Invasive Species” from becoming U.S. law and to mitigate the undesirable environmental clauses in SAFETEA? 

1. Call or fax the lead House and Senate conferees of the transportation bill. Tell them that “Invasive Species” has no place in the bill and that Section 166 of the Senate version, SAFETEA, must be entirely deleted. The final version must be the House version (TEA LU), which is intentionally silent on “Invasive Species” and other related environmental agendas. 

House: 

Rep. Don Young (AK), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee: 

Phone: 202-225-9446 

Fax: 202-225-6782 

Senate: 

Sen. James Inhofe, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee: 

Phone: 202-224-6176 

Fax: 202-224-5167 

2. If you can't call or fax, please send an email to the House and Senate Committees.

(Snail mail does not work in Washington due to anthrax precautions.) 

House: transcomm@mail.house.gov 

Senate: http://epw.senate.gov/contact.htm