Hunting Sense

When you think of defense bills, the hunting of deer and elk aren’t something you’d expect to see discussed in them. That isn’t the case with the 2007 Defense Authorization Act though, as a Navy Times article reveals.

Two herds of deer and elk on Santa Rosa Island are at the center of a controversy between members of the House and Senate. This debate began after Rep. Duncan Hunter used his influence as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee to attach a provision to the defense bill repealing a federal court settlement ordering the deer and elk be removed or exterminated from the island which is a part of the Channel Islands Nature Park. His provision allowed disabled veterans the right to hunt the animals for free.

President Bush signed the bill into law, but now two California Democrat Senators are out to repeal the provision Hunter included. Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer have introduced a provision of their own to the 2007 military construction and veterans’ appropriations bills allowing the federal court settlement order to exterminate the deer and elk to be carried out. The House bill doesn’t contain the provision, so the House and Senate appropriation committees will have to decide the fate of the herd through negotiations Hunter will not be a part of.

I don’t see the harm in letting the animals be hunted, but Hunter’s actions were typical underhanded politics, sliding a provision in through the misuse of position and power. And the two Senators, Feinstein and Boxer, moving against it seem to be the same old Democrat against Republican battles that get the country nowhere fast. All I have to wonder is why any of them have time to worry about deer and elk on an island off the Southern California coast when soldiers are dying in Iraq everyday. It seems kind of stupid if you ask me.

Hunters could have petitioned the courts on their decision to have the animals exterminated instead of the military getting involved. That could have saved a lot of time, which is something the Senate and House seem to squander enough of to begin with, that could have been used for true defense issues. Squabbles like this show what’s wrong with politics today.

I don’t know how you feel, but I have to say the entire issue is ridiculous. Let hunters worry about the deer and elk while the politicians finally do something to bring the troops home.

hunting, Congress, Bush, military, Iraq, defense