William F. Smith: “Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to join Chairman Young of the Resources Committee to discuss the critical need to fix the…”

“Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to join Chairman Young of the Resources Committee to discuss the critical need to fix the broken Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act needs to be reformed because the current law harms people and the environment. Today, the Endangered Species Act does not protect species. It violates the basic rights of hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying Americans, the very people who ought to be empowered to protect our natural resources. While the Endangered Species Act is flawed in a number of ways, I'd like to focus on three of the most critical areas where the Endangered Species Act desperately needs to be reformed. First, the Endangered Species Act needs to be operated in a way that respects the basic civil rights of all Americans. The fifth amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides: 'Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.' This amendment guarantees a basic civil right: that no citizen in society can be forced to shoulder public burdens which, in all fairness, the public as a whole should share. The fifth amendment is about fairness.”