Frank Riggs

After much debate we finally found a point to agree on. This is probably the most important private property rights vote that we will have in the 104th Congress, and that is what this is about. Since 99 percent of the designated habitat is…

The most effective way to preserve threatened species is by improving and expanding their habitat. One might expect that an endangered species law would reward people for creating habitat. It does not do that. For example, it could pay…

Let me say again for the Record that Pacific Lumber Company was told by the Federal Government, quote, that the only kind of permissible activities it will allow on its privately owned marbled murrelet habitat would be noncommercial…

Does the gentleman's letter that he is reading from now make any mention of the nine other property owners who are affected by the marbled murrelet designation?

The reason I am offering it, I will be very clear again, is that we are talking about 10 property owners, 4 different companies and 6 small ranches. That is why. And because the principle involved here is the fifth amendment of the Bill of…

I have to rebut this contention. I have to ask the gentleman from Washington [Mr. Dicks] if he has had any personal contact with top level officials of the Pacific Lumber Company.

I want to point out that she obviously did not read the bill, because on page 47 of the bill, section 116, beginning at line 3, we have the language of my amendment, and it says: None of the funds made available in this act may be used by…

The marbled murrelet is a sea bird which is also of great concern to fishermen because under the ESA our industry must go to extraordinary and sometimes expensive lengths to avoid even accidental 'take' of the bird in commercial fishing…

And the two gentlemen from California who have been most outspoken, Mr. Stark and Mr. Miller, voted for that bill?

I just want to get on the record right now how absurd that contention is. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, there are an estimated 18,000 to 35,000 murrelets in Washington, Oregon, and California alone, with several hundred…

If the gentleman would give me an opportunity to finish, there are nine property owners who own collectively 8,000 acres. And I am going to introduce in the debate to come, on the gentleman's motion to strike, letters from these property…

I wanted to conclude by saying the Market Access Program is not corporate welfare; it is a valuable resource for America's small farmers to compete in highly restrictive foreign markets. In fact, this program is pro-trade, pro-growth, and…

Mr. Chairman, let me just say, first of all, the 5 largest recipients of market access promotion funds purchase over 90 percent of their grapes from small independent grape growers. This is a program that is working. It is a public-private…

I just wanted to point out again, so as to not deliberately mislead our colleagues and the American people, following this debate, this 4.3 cents per gallon gas tax increase imposed by the President and congressional Democrats does not go…

I get the last word because I control the time, and I will just conclude this section of our special order, before we turn our attention to the budget, by quoting from the nonpartisan American Academy of Actuaries form December 21 of last…

Our plan to save Medicare from bankruptcy, while increasing Medicare spending and increasing Medicare health care choices, increasing Medicare spending per senior citizen from $4,800 per citizen per year in 1996 to $7,300 per senior…

I think I can answer that one, even though I do not pretend to be any kind of mathematics expert, but obviously the $300 billion figure is much larger.

Am I also correct, Mr. Chairman, that Congress intends, under this legislation, that the Fish and Wildlife Service protect the private property rights of parties affected by critical habitat designations by using Federal lands to the…

The principal reason that I support the increase in the minimum wage is so an entry-level minimum-wage job will ultimately pay more than welfare benefits do currently in the aggregate for those folks who want to make that difficult…

First of all, let me say with respect to the minimum wage issue, I am a little unclear why this has suddenly become--except for the possibility that it is being used now as a political football by the National Democratic Party--why this…

There is a certain irony in a new Republican congressional majority trying to help a Democratic President make good on his fundamental campaign promises. That is exactly the case.

Is it the intent of the Committee on the Judiciary that the Commission be free to study the public safety costs that gambling operations, including those operations on Indian reservations, impose on local government and local law…

I would like to clarify one more time for our colleagues that under the gentleman's proposal, and in particular the Gunderson provisions, it would permit low-income parents to choose a private school if they are dissatisfied with their…

Yesterday the President convened a meeting of the bipartisan congressional leadership at the White House and he urged the Congress to get on with the task of balancing the Federal budget, reforming the welfare system, cutting taxes…

It is unconscionable for the House Democratic Party to treat welfare recipients as a political constituency for political gain. Mr. Speaker, Americans have said that they are sick of a failed liberal welfare system that traps people in a…