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Lawmaker says H.R. 556 would increase lead poisoning, could force refuge closures
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Summary
A House lawmaker told colleagues H.R. 556 would bar federal land managers from using science-based limits on lead ammunition and could increase wildlife deaths, saying the Fish and Wildlife Service might have to close sensitive refuges and reduce hunting and fishing access.
A lawmaker on the House floor criticized H.R. 556, saying the measure would prevent federal land managers from restricting lead ammunition on wildlife refuges and could increase lead poisoning among birds and other wildlife.
The speaker opened by placing the debate in a broader context, saying, "We are on day 19 of Trump's illegal war of choice with Iran" and citing casualties and economic impacts, including that "13 American service members so far are dead" and "200 more are wounded."
The lawmaker argued those national crises contrasted with the chamber's choice to debate restrictions on lead ammunition. "We banned lead from gasoline. We banned it from paint. We banned it from children's toys," the speaker said, arguing lead is a "known lethal neurotoxin that never breaks down." The lawmaker said spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle continue to poison wildlife on public lands and waters.
Turning to the pending bill, the speaker said, "H.R. 556 would block federal land managers from using common sense, science based safeguards when necessary to protect wildlife from lead poisoning on federal lands and waters." The lawmaker warned that although the bill "claims to protect access for hunters and anglers," it could have the opposite effect by forcing closures: "The Fish and Wildlife Service would have to close those sensitive areas for hunting and fishing entirely, and that's gonna leave hunters and anglers with fewer places to fish and hunt."
The speaker characterized H.R. 556 as a federal mandate that would "allow the spread of a known lethal toxin across our nation's wildlife refuges, across waterways, and the habitats that our children will inherit." The remarks named species the speaker said are affected by lead, including bald eagles, condors, trumpeter swans and multiple duck species, and asserted lead poisoning has been "documented in over a 130 species."
Closing the remarks, the lawmaker said, "Our public lands, we have to always remember, belong to the American people, not to the NRA in the gun lobby." No vote or formal motion on H.R. 556 is recorded in the provided transcript.
