Louie Gohmert: “I appreciate my friend from Washington, who is a great Member of Congress and who knows exactly some of the damage that…”

“I appreciate my friend from Washington, who is a great Member of Congress and who knows exactly some of the damage that the Endangered Species Act has done. We certainly have experienced that in Texas. We did, in the House, modernize the Endangered Species Act in my first term, 2005 and 2006, and it was quite an education to me because I thought the Endangered Species Act was all about trying to save endangered species. But I got an education. I found out that was not what the Endangered Species Act was about because if it was just about saving endangered species, we would have saved a lot more than 1, 2, and 3 percent of the endangered species. One of the things that we did in that bill that I thought was common sense because I know there are landowners--I hear about these situations--and that is what they rely on to feed their families. There is a doctrine that is not an official doctrine known as shoot, shovel, and shut up. Somebody sees an endangered species, and they are scared if somebody sees it, then the use of their land will be taken away, and they will no longer be able to provide for their family. Even though I believe that it is a taking anticipated under the Bill of Rights, which requires remuneration, that is not what the courts have found.…”