Charles W. Stenholm: “about 2 hours ago, I came to the floor very angry. I had received what I perceived to be a very threatening phone call…”

“about 2 hours ago, I came to the floor very angry. I had received what I perceived to be a very threatening phone call as a result of my support of this legislation from what I consider the primary reason why we are there today, and the gentleman from California was just speaking to the fact that most of us would like to see a reasonableness applied to the laws that affected our land, whether it be the environment, whether it be the Endangered Species Act, whether it be the rights of private property owners. We would like to see a reasonableness. But that is not what we have been seeing. Just as I listened, with a great amount of interest and certain support of the eloquence in regard to the protection of the American eagle or the salmon, all very good stories and certainly not the intent of this Member in being part of seeing something that would undo those laws that have protected in a commonsense way, if that is the way it has been done, but I, too, could sit up and stand up today and talk about some unreasonable acts. An act in my district that cost taxpayers over $3.5 million in the protection of a water snake when all we were trying to do was build him a lake. These are the kinds of dumb things that we have had imposed upon us by the elitists of the environmental community who choose to overlook the fundamental reason why we are here today. That is the fifth amendment of the Constitution.…”