PRESS RELEASE

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE ACTION FUND ENDORSES REPRESENTATIVE JIM SAXTON IN HIS 2006 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Washington D.C. --The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund today publicly announced its endorsement of Rep. Jim Saxton (R-3rd NJ) in his bid to retain his seat in the House. 

"Rep. Saxton has proven time and time again that he is willing to stand up for our natural heritage. For six years, the Bush administration and the Republican majority has attempted to roll back environmental protections. During this time, Rep. Saxton has been right there on the front lines fighting to conserve our nation's natural resources. He has been a tremendous advocate for endangered species protections and against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That is why we have named him one of only eight '2006 Wildlife Heroes' in the House," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

"When the Endangered Species Act was under attack, Congressman Saxton worked on a bipartisan effort to oppose Congressman Richard Pombo's attempts to eviscerate the landmark law," added Schlickeisen. "Saxton supported substitute legislation that would secure protections for endangered species which came very close to passing, and it gave House members a responsible alternative to voting for Pombo's bill."

Rep. Saxton has a 78 percent score in the Defenders Action Fund annual conservation report card. The report card measures the commitment of U.S. Senators and Representatives to wildlife and habitat conservation during each Congressional session. It reviews votes on key conservation issues, providing a clear assessment of how well members of Congress are doing to protect wildlife and wild lands for future generations. The report card is available at www.defendersactionfund.org.

"Jim Saxton's score on the report card shows that over this past year he regularly cast votes in favor of protecting wildlife and preserving our wild lands," said Schlickeisen.

To see a picture of Rep. Saxton receiving his Wildlife Hero Award visit: http://defendersactionfund.org/newsroom/heroes.html.