Partisanship and gridlock are for the birds

Warning to our readers: this isn’t the typical Washington, D.C., story about stubborn partisanship and the inability to get anything done. 

In the month of April, Congress got to work and passed the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act. The law renews an existing program that funds the protection of bird habitat outside the U.S., supporting America’s migratory birds that spend only part of their year here. 

Since 2002, this program has supported 717 projects in 43 countries, and with nearly 3 billion fewer birds in North America than in 1970, we need more of this. 

Here’s the bill’s speedy timeline: 

• April 9: The House passed the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act
• April 17: The Senate Environment and Public Works committee passed the bill unanimously
• April 17 (later in the day): It passed on the Senate floor 
• April 24: Pres. Biden signed the measure into law

A big thank you to the bill’s champs in Congress, including Representatives Maria Salazar (R-FL), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Mary Peltola (D-AK), plus Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and John Boozman (R-AR). Finally, a thank you to President Biden for signing this important, bipartisan conservation bill.