WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 25, 2018 - Last week, nearly 700 people gathered for the annual Ducks Unlimited Capitol Hill dinner and auction. More than 70 members of congress were in attendance, along with many congressional staff members, partners in agriculture and conservation, members of the Administration, Wetlands America Trustees and Ducks Unlimited volunteers and board members from around the country.

This year House Speaker Paul Ryan and Secretary Sonny Perdue were among those in attendance.

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Pictured in row one from left to right: Rep. Jim Costa (CA), Rep. Bruce Poliquin (ME), Rep. Don Young (AK), Rep. Gary Palmer (AL). Pictured in row two from left to right: Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA), Sen. Mike Rounds (SD), Rep. Mike Coffman (CO), Rep. Dan Kildee (MI), Rep. Mike Conaway (TX), Rep. Ralph Abraham (LA), Rep. Ann Wagner (MO), Rep. Tim Walberg (MI). Rep. Glenn Grothman (WI), Rep. Bill Flores (TX), Rep. Rob Wittman (VA), Rep. Susan Brooks (IN), Rep. Bradley Byrne (AL), Sen. Rand Paul (KY), Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS). Pictured in row three from left to right: Rep. Liz Cheney (WY), Rep. Mike Johnson (LA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN), Rep. Bob Latta (OH), Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI), Sen. Chris Coons (DE), Rep. Mike Thompson (CA), Rep. Ken Calvert (CA), Sen. Rob Portman (OH), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE), Rep. Clay Higgins (LA), Rep. Dave Joyce (OH). Pictured in row four from left to right: Rep. Ron Kind (WI), Sen. Tom Carper (DE), Rep. Jason Smith (MO), Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ), Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC), Rep. Bruce Westerman (AR), Rep. Brad Schneider (IL), Rep. Paul Cook (CA), Sen. Dean Heller (NV), Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM), Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA), Rep. Austin Scott (GA).

"The Washington D.C. event on Capitol Hill is our opportunity to thank our bipartisan friends in Congress for their continued support of wetlands conservation,&dquo; said Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited. "We celebrate those champions who fight for our natural resources every day with some of our most senior volunteers and partners. Their support is paramount in our effort to conserve some of the nation&squo;s most critical habitat.&dquo;

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Speaker Paul Ryan gave his welcome remarks to the nearly 700 guests.

"Before I ever became an elected official, I was a Ducks Unlimited member,&dquo; said House Speaker Paul Ryan. "I firmly believe we have an obligation to be good stewards of our nation&squo;s natural resources and the work of Ducks Unlimited is paramount for the wild places that not only I hold near and dear, but all Americans cherish.&dquo;

The Ducks Unlimited Capitol Hill dinner and auction is an annual event taking place in our nation&squo;s capital every spring.

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Pictured left to right: Rep. Garret Graves, Rep. Clay Higgins, Richard Zuschlag, Rep. Liz Cheney and Admiral Ed Giambastiani donning their new Ducks Unlimited and Purina hats at the event.


Pictured left to right: Secretary Sonny Perdue, DU President Rogers Hoyt, Speaker Paul Ryan and DU CEO Dale Hall.


Pictured left to right: Rep. Mark Amodei, Tom Enos and Sen. Dean Heller enjoying the event.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 14 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.

Media Contact:
Tucker Nelson
(202) 347-1530
tnelson@ducks.org