On the recordJuly 29, 2014
I would like to thank my colleague for giving me time to speak on this important legislation. The Endangered Species Act is a fundamental environmental law, one that was enacted because we, as a society, decided that we have a responsibility to our generation and to future generations to protect species that are threatened with extinction, as we did with the American bald eagle, our Nation's symbol. Unfortunately, its implementation has had a profound impact on many human activities in many areas of the country, including my own district in the San Joaquin Valley of California. This year, people that I represent will be standing in food lines due in part to the way the ESA is being implemented in the San Joaquin Valley as it relates to water. Let me be clear, I support targeted reform of the Endangered Species Act and the use of best science. However, the reform must strengthen the policy goals of the ESA. We need to be improving its performance, not reducing its protections. Unfortunately, as I have said too many times on the floor of this House, this bill, unfortunately, is going nowhere. It is going nowhere because the process to develop it was not transparent and was not bipartisan. It is going nowhere because this is another example of a single-Chamber bill to score political points that has no Democratic support. If we are going to create law that benefits the American people, bipartisanship is no longer an option. It is a requirement.…
