mr. speaker , there are some seeds for potential bipartisan agreement . 
we do need to reauthorize , update , and improve endangered species act . 
i think there is some fair consensus on that . 
but we also do not want to go to a time where we have the next passenger pigeon , for instance , where we extirpate a species forever . 
that is a long time . 
i wore my eagle tie today in the hope that we will continue to protect the bald eagle , the symbol of our country . 
there are some serious problems with the bill that was unveiled last week , hastily pushed through the committee on resources , and further changed last evening by a manager 's amendment which few have seen . 
among them , and one that has to give pause to this body as we wrestle with how we are going to pay for hurricane katrina and other essential things here , and how much money is being borrowed in the name of future generations , is a section regarding compensation . 
now , i had hoped to offer an amendment to say that we would compensate people for foregoing the usual historic and accustomed use . 
if you grow timber and you can not cut the trees , you get compensated for the trees . 
if you ranch and you can not graze the cattle , you get paid the value of the area on which you can not graze your cattle . 
if you grew a crop and there is some sort of restriction and you can not grow that crop , then you would be compensated . 
but the bill goes so far beyond that , it is extraordinary . 
it goes to speculative , proposed , possible , potential use . 
this is going to create a wonderful new market for speculators . 
if people across america thought that this was going to become law as written , which it will not , it will be changed dramatically after the senate acts , if they do act , they would be out right now purchasing , on a speculative basis , or getting options on property that in any way was restricted by the endangered species act . 
because they could say , well , it is true that was a tree farm , but actually i was going to build a destination resort on that tree farm . 
and my destination resort would have provided me with a profit of $ 1 million a year for the next 30 years . 
please pay me $ 30 million . 
and the government has 180 days to come up with that money . 
now , there is a low-ball estimate for this new entitlement , and who knows how they came up with it , but they are saying , oh , no , it will only be $ 5 million to $ 10 million a year . 
come on , only $ 5 million to $ 10 million a year ? 
this is going to be hundreds of millions , if not billions a year of a new entitlement . 
and , remember , the compensation is in an amount no less than the fair market value . 
so taxpayers are going to be obligated to borrow money for speculative , possible potential future profits , and maybe even a little on top of that because the secretary can not compensate less than the fair market value . 
it does not say that the secretary is restricted to the fair market value ; if the secretary feels generous , borrow more money and pay more than the fair market value . 
it is binding only on the secretary as i understand in the new manager 's amendment . 
so the taxpayers are on the hook ; but if the property owner says my speculative value was $ 2 million profit a year for the next 30 years , then that person could go to court . 
but the government could not go to court to say wait a minute , this is crazy , you really were not going to make $ 2 million a year on a destination resort on that tree farm . 
we will compensate you for the loss of harvest of the trees , but we are not going to pay for that speculative value . 
i can not believe that any member of this house is going to open the doors to the treasury so wide for potential speculation . 
that is not compensating landowners for usual , historic , and customary use . 
if that amendment had been allowed , i think many more members could support this bill ; but that amendment was not allowed here in the house of representatives today . 
there will be only one substitute and a manager 's amendment , no other amendments are allowed . 
this is a perfect bill . 
after all , it was just introduced last week . 
it had no hearings . 
it was marked up one day in committee , and now it has been changed further by a manager 's amendment last night which no one has seen . 
it is a perfect bill , and no amendment should be allowed here on the floor , but we are going to put the taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars . 
