Gary Condit: “I feel compelled today to rise and just make a couple of brief comments. I first would like to state that we have heard…”

“I feel compelled today to rise and just make a couple of brief comments. I first would like to state that we have heard some discussion this morning about this bill, and this amendment, as though this is one of the first times we have heard it. This is not the first time we have visited this issue. This issue of private property rights has been around this Chamber, around the Capitol for a long time. And I feel compelled to commend the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Tauzin] and the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Fields] who have been working long and hard on this issue. Last year we had a vote on this floor on the Desert Act, which I think we debated for about 4 or 5 days, and we had 143 Democrats who voted in favor of full compensation if your property was taken because of an endangered species. So we have debated this issue. There have been people who have been working long and hard, and [Mr. Tauzin] has been in the forefront and the leader of that issue.”