Bruce F. Vento: “I have no disagreement with the rule, but I do strongly disagree with the direction that this bill takes in terms of its…”

“I have no disagreement with the rule, but I do strongly disagree with the direction that this bill takes in terms of its representations and action fundamentally undercutting seriously the Endangered Species Act, an act which should be reauthorized and dealt with on its merits as opposed to these single shots and, I might say, a broad attempt here today to suspend the application of the Endangered Species Act to a wide range of regular activities dealing with the repair, the reconstruction, the maintenance, and even the operation of various water projects. What we see here is that in the reconstruction, in this whole series of operation and other activities, that this would be completely suspended. We would not look at one of the significant factors that are involved in such project. Under the Endangered Species Act, there have literally been 25 to 40,000 consultations.”