CARA UPDATE:
by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

1. Cosponsor number climbs to 180!
2. Memorial Day Recess coming up
3. House Resources Committee Hearing in late June.
4. Deadline for Group Sign-on Letter extended until June 15th.  Please circulate wide and far.

1. List of Additional CARA Cosponsors - May 15, 2001 - CA: Solis, Hilda L. (D) , Woolsey, Lynn C. (D); GA: Barr, Bob (R); Norwood, Charlie (R); HI: Mink, Patsy T. (D); IL: Kirk, Mark Steven (R); NC: Price, David E. (D); ND: Pomeroy, Earl (D); TX: Johnson, Eddie Bernice (D).  For the complete CARA cosponsor list, see:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR00701:@@@N

We are only 37 cosponsors short of our minimum goal!  If every state could add just one more cosponsor, we'll easily reach our goal of 218 by Memorial Day (AK, VT & ND - you are all done!!).  To cosponsor CARA, be sure to let your Congressmen/women know they should contact Mike Olsen (House Resources Committee, majority office) at (202)225-2761 or Dan Beattie (Representative Dingell) at (202)225-4071.

2. And for those members still needing some encouragement, the Memorial Day Recess (May 25-June 1) would be a great time to meet with them back home. Consider taking them out to a site that needs funding or show them what you will be doing with your money from FY 2001. 

3. The House Resources Committee, chaired by Congressman Jim Hansen (R-UT), recently told us of their intention to hold hearings on CARA during the third or fourth week of June.  While we do not anticipate any major problems, the hearing is still a key hurdle in the CARA Sprint. Please put some extra focus on getting Resource Committee members supportive of CARA by then. Congressman Hansen is a strong CARA supporter himself.  We are aiming for a summer floor vote. 

4. Taking advantage of the later June hearing date, we are EXTENDING the deadline on the group letter - PLEASE work to get as many signatures as possible by JUNE 15th. This should give you adequate time to get a good solid list.   Please go after your original CARA supporters as well as some new voices.

Additional information on CARA can be found at: www.sso.org/iafwa or www.teaming.com

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Naomi Edelson

International Assn. of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

444 N. Capitol St., NW

Suite 544

Washington DC 20001

tel: (202) 624-7890

fax: (202) 624-7891

IAFWA Website: http://www.sso.org/iafwa

Check out the Teaming with Wildlife web site: http://www.teaming.com