William Tauzin: “I particularly want to pay a great debt of gratitude, I hope, on behalf of this entire House for the efforts, the…”

“I particularly want to pay a great debt of gratitude, I hope, on behalf of this entire House for the efforts, the long-standing efforts that have been made by my colleague and friend, the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Hayes], in this effort that has finally reached the floor to reform the wetland laws of America and create some sound, sensible regulations of wetlands in America combined with the right of property owners to be reimbursed when their property is taken for these regulatory purposes. My colleagues, one of my colleagues from California rose earlier today to complain about lobbyists' hands in the writing of this bill. Let me set the record straight. This bill, the reforms have long been on this table, not this year when the new majority came to town. These reforms have long been on the table, never brought to the floor of this House unfortunately, but long on the table, drafted in part by the efforts, personal efforts of the gentleman from Louisiana [Mr. Hayes], the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Laughlin], many other Members of this body who have urged this House to consider these amendments for many, many years when the Democratic Party was in the majority.”