Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse), my friend, for yielding. I would like to first look at the Special Order and give a big ``thank you'' to Mr. Newhouse for his passion for solving these issues affecting the Western States. Madam Speaker, I have been honored to be the chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus for the past 3 years. In that time, the caucus has been the leading voice in the charge to modernize the decades-old Endangered Species Act. It is clear that the ESA simply isn't working the way it should. Statistics show that only 3 percent of species listed under the act have been delisted. Madam Speaker, if only 3 percent of the patients admitted to a hospital walked out healthy, that hospital would be shut down immediately. This rate of ineptitude is not sustainable. Back in September, I was proud to organize and chair a forum of Members of Congress and more than 30 stakeholders from across the country to hear firsthand testimonials about how the ESA is broken and to hear suggestions for modifications and reform to make it work better. These testimonies hit home, exposing the fact that the Endangered Species Act is in disrepair and in desperate need of reform. There have been several very positive developments in modernizing ESA in the last year alone. The administration, with the full support of the Congressional Western Caucus, proposed three new rules for the ESA.…”