[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 125 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10577-S10578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY ACT

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I would like to report briefly on the 
effort to bring up the Endangered Species Recovery Act, S. 1180.
  When we were debating the Interior appropriations bill on Wednesday, 
Senator Kempthorne, the Senator from Idaho, indicated that he planned 
to offer an amendment that would largely embody the substance of S. 
1180.
  I strongly support S. 1180. But we are no longer considering the 
Interior appropriations bill, and it is not clear whether we will 
again. I think the far better approach is to take up S. 1180 as a 
freestanding bill. After all, that bill was reported on October 31, 
1997, almost 1 year ago. It is a solid bill, it is balanced, it is good 
for endangered species, and it is good for private landowners. It has 
bipartisan support. The vote in the Environment and Public Works 
Committee was 15-3. The bill was supported by every Republican member 
of the committee and by a majority of the Democratic members. The bill 
is also strongly supported by the Clinton administration.
  To my mind, there is no good reason why we cannot bring up S. 1180 
for debate on the Senate floor. Moreover, that approach has two 
important advantages over trying to attach it to the Interior 
appropriations bill.
  First, we do not have the Interior appropriations bill. That is one 
big difficulty. In addition, bringing up S. 1180 as a freestanding bill 
assures full and fair debate and an opportunity for amendments. We are 
likely to get amendments from the left, from the right, from the 
middle, and who knows where. I am sure that we can work out most of 
them.
  Of course, I will oppose amendments that would disrupt the balance of 
the bill. That is the agreement I reached with Senator Kempthorne and 
Senator Chafee, Interior Secretary Babbitt, those of us who put this 
bill together; that is, oppose amendments that would disrupt the 
balance achieved in the bill. But every Senator should have a shot. In 
the end, such a process, I believe, will increase support for the bill.
  In addition, this approach--bringing it up as a freestanding bill--
assures that the bill will be taken up under the leadership and 
jurisdiction of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and that 
includes any conference with the House.
  Members of the committee have worked long and worked hard--over 
several years, I might add--to develop this legislation. We should 
follow through rather than hand the bill off to an Appropriations 
Committee that is already bearing such heavy burdens as the fiscal 
clock winds down.
  S. 1180, I say to my good friend, the Presiding Officer, is on the 
calendar. Here is the calendar. S. 1180 is on it. It has been on the 
calendar for almost a year. It is a good bill. We can be proud of it. 
We should take it up as a freestanding bill.

[[Page S10578]]

  So where do things stand today? Yesterday, both Cloakrooms asked 
Senators whether they wished to offer any amendments. On our side there 
are about 20. I am now beginning to review the amendments and discuss 
them with Members and their staff to see if we can reduce that number. 
The majority is doing the same.
  It is my hope, Mr. President, that, working with the chairman of the 
committee, Senator Chafee, and the majority and minority leaders, we 
will be in a position to bring the bill up, for debate and for 
amendment, within a matter of days. For my part, I will do whatever I 
can to make this possible.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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