mr. chairman , i think it is appropriate to refer to the first endangered species act in genesis . 
`` bring out every kind of living creature that is with you , the birds , the animals , and all the creatures that move along the ground , so that they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it. '' are we acting in the spirit of noah when we purport to vote , some may vote , for a bill that would prevent protecting the bald eagle from pesticides , when ddt almost removed it from the treasure-trove of american icons ? 
are we acting in the spirit of genesis ? 
i think americans think we are not . 
when we act to remove any meaningful enforcement provisions to protect the habitat , are we acting in the spirit of genesis ? 
americans think not . 
what is a fish without a river ? 
what is a bird without a tree to nest in ? 
what is an endangered species act without any enforcement mechanism to ensure their habitat is protected ? 
it is nothing . 
this is not a modernization of the act , this is a euthanization of the act , and i will tell you why . 
the underlying bill says that we are going to have these maps of habitat that will be developed , and that is a wonderful thing . 
and under the bill , as written , the maps will hang on the walls of these agencies in beautiful pink and blue , and the cub scouts and the girl scout troops can come through and look at the beautiful maps . 
but it has one missing thing . 
if we pass this underlying bill , we would have removed any single legal enforcement mechanism that those maps had whatsoever . 
the bipartisan amendment will say that those maps have some degree of teeth . 
this underlying bill is a chimera . 
it is a total falsehood to say it does the first thing for habitat because there is no enforcement mechanism for those maps . 
i want to tell my colleagues of a woman who was in my office the other day . 
she wants habitat protection so she can see those salmon . 
and just to make sure no one thinks this is just some esoteric thing , her name is gail and she lives in miller bay in washington state , kitsap county . 
she told me about the thrill of seeing the salmon going up the stream on miller bay , and they do that because we have an enforceable mechanism to protect habitat . 
she knows that if we pass this bill , we will remove the ability to protect the streams . 
we remove the enforcements mechanisms . 
mr. chairman , that is why we need to do this substitute , which has a better way of identifying habitat in the recovery process so we do not have this frustration with the landowners , so we do not waste 3 years just bothering landowners and not recovering species , but we have a mechanism to get this job done . 
i want to reiterate what the gentleman from washington ( mr. dicks ) xz4001090 suggested . 
to suggest that an act that saves 99 percent of the species from extinction is a failure is not a way to keep score . 
if you want to know how to do more , let us make sure that the executive branch enforces this law . 
clinton listed 500 . 
the first bush listed 250 . 
this administration has done zero without a court order . 
let us pass the substitute bill and reject this underlying bill . 
honor creatures , honor the taxpayer , honor yourself . 
