[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 9 (Thursday, January 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E93]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




JOINT RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF REGULATIONS 
  RELATING TO INTERAGENCY COOPERATION UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 15, 2009

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing legislation, using 
the authority granted to Congress under the Congressional Review Act, 
to overturn last minute regulations promulgated by the Bush Interior 
and Commerce Departments which give federal agencies an unacceptable 
degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with the 
Endangered Species Act, ESA.
  Joining me in introducing this measure are Mr. Markey, Mr. George 
Miller, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Hinchey, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Holt, Mr. 
Grijalva, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Farr, and Mr. Blumenauer. I thank 
them for their support.
  The Bush Administration has had a long, though one could hardly say 
proud, history of trying to undermine the Endangered Species Act and 
the protection it provides our Nation's most imperiled species. For 
years, high ranking political appointees in the Department of Interior 
used their positions and influence to meddle in scientific decisions 
under the ESA and alter outcomes, potentially harming species and most 
definitely harming the integrity of the law and morale and reputation 
of the agency charged with implementing it.
  The rules we seek to overturn with this joint resolution were rushed 
through in the final months of the Administration and are the final 
assault on and insult to one of our nation's landmark conservation 
laws. They gut what is the cornerstone of the law, the Section 7 
consultation process, and allow federal agencies to undertake or permit 
thousands of federal activities, such as logging or building a dam, on 
federal land and other areas without obtaining review or comment from 
federal wildlife biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Service.
  This incredibly controversial proposal--which could have far-reaching 
implications on the future integrity of the Endangered Species 
program--clearly merits more public scrutiny than the Administration 
provided. First proposed in late August, the Administration rushed a 
public comment period and environmental assessment and then reviewed 
more than 300,000 public comments at a rate of more than 6,000 per 
hour. This last minute, ill-conceived overhaul of the rules governing 
America's endangered wildlife, brokered behind closed doors, is an 
affront to the American people who trust their government to do the 
right thing.
  Eleventh hour rulemakings rarely, if ever, lead to good government, 
and this is not the type of legacy the Bush Administration should be 
leaving for future generations. Not surprisingly, this is not the first 
time--though fortunately it will likely be the last--that the Bush 
Interior Department abdicated their responsibility for ensuring that an 
agency action will not jeopardize a listed species or harm their 
habitat. Similar regulations proposed to allow the Environmental 
Protection Agency to decide whether to consult when licensing 
pesticides were rejected by the Court in 2006, just as we should reject 
these regulatory changes now.
  As the Bush Administration fades off into the sunset, they leave 
behind a trail of last minute regulatory changes that represent the 
worst in public policy and that Congress and the new President will 
have to undo. In my role as chairman of the Natural Resources 
Committee, I look forward to working with the Obama Administration to 
correct course and promote a positive resource conservation agenda. We 
need to invoke the change that is needed to restore the vigor and 
vitality of America, including the unique natural heritage that has 
carved our Nation as we know it today. Passage of this joint resolution 
will be one important step in restoring that natural heritage.

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