[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 129 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. GARY G. MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 29, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill. (H.R. 3824) to 
     amend and reauthorize the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to 
     provide greater results conserving and recovering listed 
     species, and for other purposes:

  Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of 
H.R. 3824, a bill to bring much-needed reforms to the outdated 
Endangered Species Act (ESA). While I believe Congress must work to 
ensure its policies protect and preserve our nation's natural resources 
and environment, the current interpretation of the ESA has strayed 
significantly from the original intent of the law and done little to 
protect our nation's endangered species.
  While the ESA has the laudable goal of preventing the extinction of 
species, the fact is the law is broken and has created an adverse 
relationship between the government and America's farmers, ranchers, 
and private property owners. For example, of the 1,304 species that 
have been listed as endangered over the last 31 years, only 12 have 
been de-listed, a one percent success rate. Although our understanding 
of what is required to protect and recover endangered species has grown 
and become more sophisticated, the ESA has remained a blunt set of 
mandates that do not reflect or accommodate these advancements. I 
firmly believe we must allow the states and the federal government to 
work together to ensure the true intent of the ESA, to help preserve 
and recover endangered species, can be accomplished.
  H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act, 
repairs many of the problems inherent in the ESA by requiring the use 
of the best scientific data in all listing decisions, replacing the 
broken critical habitat program with a more integrated recovery 
planning process, and strengthening the role of states. In addition, 
this bill makes great strides to ensure regulatory certainty for 
private property owners by providing compensation for lands vital to 
species rehabilitation, increasing transparency throughout the process, 
and encouraging voluntary conservation efforts. These provisions will 
help ensure that species conservation efforts take a more collaborative 
and less confrontational approach to protecting endangered species.
  Now is the time to modernize the ESA and move forward to update this 
law to bring it into the 21st century. I urge my colleagues to pass 
this important measure to ensure the protection and recovery of 
America's wildlife, while balancing the needs of the communities in 
which we live and work.

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