Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on Wednesday celebrated the passage of his bill to reopen part of a military weapons-testing site in the northern Gulf of Mexico that the Biden administration slammed shut because of concern about whales.
The Fort Walton Beach Republican had proposed making the full test range off the Florida coast from Eglin Air Force Base near Pensacola as part of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon’s main funding bill.
On Wednesday, during a House Armed Services Committee debate on the measure, Gaetz noted his bill would require the secretary of defense to invoke an exemption to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow testing to resume.
Read: CREW Sues DOJ For Investigation Records In Florida Rep. Gaetz Closed Case
President Joe Biden’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had sealed off the site in early 2023 because of concerns about the effects on a pod of Rice’s whales who live in the Gulf. NOAA claimed it feared an “incidental taking” of the whales.
The Rice’s whale was unknown until three years ago when genetic testing confirmed it was different from a species called Byrde’s whale. Rice’s whales are the only species of whale that naturally inhabit the waters of America.
Gaetz first objected to Biden’s move in March 2023, saying that the closure of the testing area was putting America dangerously behind our enemies, such as China, in developing and testing new weapons, such as hypersonic missiles.
At the time, the 51 known whales lived in an area off the coast of the Panhandle called the DeSoto Canyon, which is deep enough for them to hide from the noise of passing ships and oil rigs.
Gaetz said of the situation last June, “A serious nation would not sacrifice national security for the sake of accommodating whales.”
Read: Emergency Petition Filed In Florida Seeking Expanded Protection For Endangered Whales
At Wednesday’s hearing, Gaetz noted that no whales had been killed during his seven years in Congress, but the closure of the site had a real “negative impact” on military testing.
The Republican majority on the committee adopted Gaetz’s amendment by a strict party-line vote of 30-28.
On X after the vote, Gaetz said, “Important weapons testing was shut down after Rice’s whales were discovered off Northwest Florida’s coast. There continues to be no accidental harm to these whales as a result of military activity.”
He urged House and Senate negotiators who will assemble the final NDAA to include his amendment in the final bill.
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