mr. speaker , i am pleased that both sides of the aisle have recognized the need of some modifications in the endangered species act . 
i would like to , mr. speaker , introduce you to a man by the name of john gochnauer . 
john gochnauer was the shortstop for the cleveland indians in 1902 and 1903 . 
in 1902 , playing full-time at shortstop for the indians , he hit a paltry .185 and committed a whopping 48 errors in that position . 
nonetheless , he came back the next year to play for them in 1903 , where he once again , full-time player , hit .185 , and this time set a major league record , which has yet to be broken , of committing 98 errors as shortstop , which means out of every five times , he touched the ball , he booted or threw it away once . 
the endangered species act has established 1 , 300 species for preservation and has been able to preserve 12 of them , giving that act a batting average of .010 , if you round up . 
whereas john gochnauer hit .185 , the endangered species act is hitting .009 , which means the endangered species act is the most inept program we have in the federal government . 
the endangered species act is the john gochnauer of federal programs . 
the reason is quite simple . 
the endangered species act creates more harm than it does good . 
because if you are a good steward of the land , your practices which create and preserve habitat make you then open to government control and government regulations and produce an attitude of distrust and hatred . 
the endangered species act is not there to prevent development or to change land use . 
it actually penalizes the practices that help in the process , which is one of the reasons why this bill before us recognizes that , and especially in 13 ( d ) , a section that is in the bill but not in the substitute . 
it is there to provide grants to encourage cooperation to solve the problem , not to encourage people running away from the fear of the federal government 's control . 
i think that is probably one of the reasons why this bill is one of those unique bills to come before this body in which a majority of both parties in committee voted to support this particular bill . 
this bill is indeed one of modifications . 
it is a modification . 
i want to introduce you to one other person . 
i will call him jim , simply because i do not want to give the full name . 
jim should today be a middle-aged person with a family , running a business , and living a healthy life in california . 
but in 1995 , in california , there was a levee that was in need of repair . 
on that levee they found 43 bushes . 
the bushes were not part of the endangered species act , but a beetle who could potentially live in those bushes was , even though no beetle was found in those 43 bushes that grew up on that levee after it was built . 
nonetheless , a mitigation plan was mandated , even though the directors of the levee said that it would weaken the levee . 
sure enough , 1 year later , that levee broke . 
five hundred homes were destroyed and three lives were taken , including jim 's . 
mr. speaker , the record of the endangered species act over the decades here has been one of jobs lost , of property restricted , of homes destroyed and , sadly , of human lives lost . 
that is why it desperately needs modification . 
the bill before us does that type of modification . 
