Congress votes to officially make bald eagle the US national bird

[JACK AYLMER]

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, one iconic American symbol is finally getting its official due: the bald eagle.

Congress has passed a bill that would officially make the bald eagle the national bird of the United States. The bill is now pending President Joe Biden’s signature.

The bald eagle has been a symbol since 1782, when Congress adopted the great seal of the United States–a bald eagle holding an olive branch and arrows to symbolize peace and war.

Since then it’s become a part of both government and culture as a symbol of both America and patriotism. It’s part of the seal of the president, it’s on U.S. currency, it’s a sports team mascot, and now it’s on everything from bumper stickers to bourbon bottles.

But the U.S. never made it official for the bird, which only lives in North America. In fact, for a while, the actual bald eagle faced some serious risks.

Americans quickly hunted away the bald eagle for interfering with livestock and fishing, and after World War II, the development of suburbs and the use of the pesticide DDT pushed the bald eagle population to the brink of extinction.

But bald eagle populations recovered. In the mid–1990’s, the bald eagle was endangered, the highest risk classification on the Endangered Species List. In 2007, it came off the list entirely, due to a resurgence in its population.

The U.S. has a handful of other national designations – the rose is the national flower, the oak is the national tree, and the bison is the national mammal.

But the bald eagle is the national bird thanks to a push from one man: Preston Cook, an eagle aficionado and Army veteran from Minnesota. A lifelong collector of eagle memorabilia, Cook’s collection of more than 40,000 items gathered over half a century is held at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota.

He wrote the bill now on President Biden’s desk. One of Minnesota’s senators, Democrat Amy Klobuchar, took the text and filed it as a bill. 

It doesn’t even have a financial cost attached. All it does is add a line to the U.S. code adding the bald eagle as the national bird of the United States.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Jack Aylmer.

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