Political Quotes

“we can have the endangered species protected and the people protected. I want to keep stressing that. We have heard people talk about my wanting to repeal the Endangered Species Act. I never attempted to repeal the Endangered Species Act. I had 17 hearings with the gentleman from California [Mr. Pombo], and we had hundreds of witnesses testify before us that the system is not working, and I want to fix it. I want to protect the endangered species, but I want to also have man's involvement in the protection of the endangered species. I do not want to join the SSS's club. I don't want to belong to that club. Some Members want to shoot, shut up, and shovel. I do not want anything to do with that. What I want is protecting the species, and the act today is not working. I asked the gentleman from California and this administration, Mr. Babbitt and Katie McKinney and the President, to come down and give me some suggestions. They did not do that last year. They sat quietly and beat our brains out because we tried to improve the act. They said we tried to repeal it. We did not do that. We tried to improve it, and it should be improved.”