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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 89 (Friday, May 26, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7611-S7612]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

            S. 768--ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT REFORM AMENDMENTS

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, today, I rise to support S. 768, the 
Endangered Species Act Reform Amendments of 1995.
  I wish to compliment Senator Gorton and Senator Johnston on the 
thought and effort which has obviously gone into the crafting of this 
legislation.
  Reform of the Endangered Species Act is way overdue, and I am very 
pleased that the Congress is finally addressing this issue in a 
substantive way. Field hearings on ESA reform will be underway next 
week under the guidance of my colleague from Idaho, Senator Dirk 
Kempthorne, who chairs the subcommittee of jurisdiction within the 
Environment and Public Works Committee. I will be joining Dirk in 
[[Page S7612]] Lewiston, ID, on June 3 for the ESA hearing there.
  I want to be counted as one who recognizes the value of our fish and 
wildlife. I have repeatedly said that I cannot support outright repeal 
of the Endangered Species Act, as many have urged. But the act needs 
substantial revision if it is to be brought back in balance with the 
economic well-being of this country and with the needs of its citizens. 
Far beyond its original intent, the act has been made a bludgeon to 
suppression legitimate use of public lands and to threaten private 
landowners and communities.
  Nowhere is that fact more obvious than in my State of Idaho. Earlier 
this year, an Endangered Species Act Lawsuit brought by two 
preservation groups resulted in a perverse opinion which threatened to 
shut down all economic activity on 14 million acres in Idaho.
  Mr. President, that is an area the size of Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire combined. If the courts can find reason 
under the existing law to render such a devastating opinion as was done 
in this case, then it is imperative that Congress correct the obvious 
flaws in the law.
  As chair of the two subcommittees in the Senate with jurisdiction 
over forest policy, I have embarked on a series of hearings to 
understand and correct the myriad of conflicting laws and regulations 
which have strangled the practice of good forestry in this country. The 
practice of forestry is at a standstill on our western public lands, 
and the primary culprit is the Endangered Species Act. The forests are 
ruled by the Endangered Species Act, not the Forest Service or the 
Bureau of Land Management, and that is a reality which must be changed.
  Senator Gorton's bill provides many of the needed changes. It 
includes language which Senator Kempthorne and I introduced as S. 455 
earlier this year to prevent a repeat of the court opinion I have 
already described. it would streamline the section 7 consultation 
process, which has proven to be unworkable in our experience with 
threatened and endangered salmon. It brings cost-consciousness, state 
rights and private landowners back into the equation for conservation 
of species.
  I am pleased to be a cosponsor of S. 768. I have told Senator Gorton 
that I will assist him in any way possible to accomplish a balanced 
reform of the ESA. It must be done this year--we have waited too long 
already. I hope our colleagues will join us in this effort.

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