21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me time to speak on this important legislation. The Endangered Species Act is a fundamental environmental law, one that was enacted because we, as a society, decided that we have a responsibility to our generation and to future generations to protect species that are threatened with extinction, as we did with the American bald eagle, our Nation's symbol.

Unfortunately, its implementation has had a profound impact on many human activities in many areas of the country, including my own district in the San Joaquin Valley of California. This year, people that I represent will be standing in food lines due in part to the way the ESA is being implemented in the San Joaquin Valley as it relates to water.

Let me be clear, I support targeted reform of the Endangered Species Act and the use of best science. However, the reform must strengthen the policy goals of the ESA. We need to be improving its performance, not reducing its protections.

Unfortunately, as I have said too many times on the floor of this House, this bill, unfortunately, is going nowhere. It is going nowhere because the process to develop it was not transparent and was not bipartisan. It is going nowhere because this is another example of a single-Chamber bill to score political points that has no Democratic support.

If we are going to create law that benefits the American people, bipartisanship is no longer an option. It is a requirement. I will vote for this bill in spite of the flawed process on how it was developed and my serious reservations regarding the definition of best science.

I will vote for it because it is past time to roll up our sleeves and get to work on crafting serious proposals to reform the Endangered Species Act that ensures greater transparency, provides for more stakeholder input into the process, ensures that best science is used regarding species management, and creates a better balance between species protection and human impacts.

Mr. Chairman, I will vote for this bill because, for me, hope springs eternal that we can come together and become legislators that work together between the House and the Senate in a bipartisan fashion.

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