[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24153]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     H.R. 3824, THE THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOVERY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 26, 2005

  Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support for Threatened and 
Endangered Species Recovery Act, TESRA. This legislation is needed to 
make important changes to the Endangered Species Act, ESA, which, after 
30 years of implementation, has been unable to return endangered 
species to healthy and sustainable populations and has caused turmoil 
for landowners and local communities across the country, especially in 
my district in California.
  As you know, recent U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, FWS, studies 
indicate that ESA has successfully recovered less than 1 percent of 
species listed in the original law. Frankly, this is far from being an 
exemplary model of effective legislation.
  TESRA offers a new emphasis on recovery, which will require the 
identification of lands important to the conservation and resurgence of 
species. The bill provides numerous tools to promote preservation on 
private lands without further increasing the size of the federal 
estate.
  TESRA also lists specific difference to distinguish between 
endangered and threatened species. TESRA requires rules, which will 
regulate that threatened species be disseminated on a case by case 
basis rather than by some overarching rule for all threatened species. 
By these requirements, TESRA provides a flexibility that can be central 
to effectively promoting conservation.
  I would like to commend Chairman Pombo for his efforts in this 
legislation and would like to express my full support for the 
underlying bill.

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