Opinion ID: 576710
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Post-Enactment Legislative Comments

Text: 82 The best argument that Sierra Club advances to overcome the conclusion suggested by the contemporaneous legislative history consists of the post-enactment statements of individual legislators. The issuance of the Biological Update by the Fish and Wildlife Service after passage of the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act prompted all five Representatives from Arizona and one of Arizona's two Senators to say publicly that they interpreted the Act to permit the reinitiation of consultation regarding the first phase of construction. A joint press release by Representatives Jim Kolbe, Jay Rhodes, Jon Kyl, and Bob Stump, and Senator John McCain, stated: 83 We have always believed that the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act contemplated the possibility of reinitiation of consultation where new information has been found. Each step in the regulatory process has been followed during the life of this project. We have supported this process and appropriately deferred to the best scientific judgment of the scientists and other agency experts involved. 84 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological update suggesting reconsultation will be no exception. The judgment of these experts in 1988 was that the Project could proceed without having a significant effect on the continued existence of the red squirrel. We relied upon their opinion then and supported the project; and, accordingly, will defer to it now. 85 News Advisory, Congress of the United States, House of Representatives (Aug. 6, 1990) (emphasis added). Similarly, Representative Udall stated in a press release issued that same day: 86 [T]he supporters of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) never would have cleared the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act for passage if we believed that it undermined the integrity of ESA or precluded reinitiation of consultation under the set of circumstances contained in today's Fish and Wildlife Service report. 87 Press Release, Rep. Morris K. Udall (Aug. 6, 1990). 88 These statements, while seemingly relevant, cannot, unfortunately, serve as reliable indicators of congressional intent. See Blanchette v. Connecticut Gen. Ins. Corps., 419 U.S. 102, 132, 95 S.Ct. 335, 352, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974) ([P]ost-passage remarks of legislators, however explicit, cannot serve to change the legislative intent of Congress expressed before the Act's passage. Such statements 'represent only the personal views of these legislators, since the statements were [made] after passage of the Act.'  (quoting National Woodwork Mfrs. Ass'n v. NLRB, 386 U.S. 612, 639 n. 34, 87 S.Ct. 1250, 1265 n. 34, 18 L.Ed.2d 357 (1967)) (citation omitted)). Not only were the statements made two years after the passage of the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act, but they also represent an apparent change of position for at least one of the speakers. Compare News Advisory, Congress of the United States, House of Representatives (Aug. 6, 1990) (Senator McCain stating, We have always believed that the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act contemplated the possibility of reinitiation of consultation where new information has been found.) with 134 Cong.Rec. S15,741 (daily ed. Oct. 13, 1988) (Senator McCain stating, Three telescopes will be built immediately. They can no longer be stalled by process, by litigation, or by whim.). As the Supreme Court has said, We are normally hesitant to attach much weight to comments made after the passage of legislation. In view of the contradictory nature of these cited statements, we give them no weight at all. County of Washington v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161, 176 n. 16, 101 S.Ct. 2242, 2251 n. 16, 68 L.Ed.2d 751 (1981) (citation omitted); see also Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 118 n. 13, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2061 n. 13, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980); United States v. Clark, 445 U.S. 23, 33 n. 9, 100 S.Ct. 895, 902 n. 9, 63 L.Ed.2d 171 (1980); Brock v. Writers Guild of America, West, Inc., 762 F.2d 1349, 1356 (9th Cir.1985); American Constitutional Party v. Munro, 650 F.2d 184, 188 (9th Cir.1981). That must be the case here, as well. 89