Political Quotes

“I rise to offer an amendment that would strip a dangerous rider from this bill, a rider that would seriously compromise the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act. This is a bipartisan amendment, I might add. I'm offering it with the support of Congressman Thompson and Congressman Fitzpatrick and Congresswoman Hanabusa. The fiscal year 2012 Interior and Environment bill passed by the full committee a few weeks ago contains a direct attack on the ESA. I offered an amendment at that time to strike the provision, but the full committee rejected it. The provision would block the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing candidate species as either threatened or endangered as well as the designation of the critical habitat necessary for species recovery. These listing activities are preliminary steps that the Fish and Wildlife Service must take in order to begin the recovery process. After those steps are taken, then the hard work begins. Without these important preliminary steps of listing and critical habitat designation, it would be impossible to develop a scientifically valid and legally defensible recovery plan for declining species. This funding limitation aimed at the heart of the ESA is simply postponing the day of reckoning. It is important to note that the bill does provide funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service to downgrade the protections offered to species under the ESA. After all, the goal of the ESA is to eventually delist recovered species.…”