mr. speaker , i would first like to congratulate the gentleman from california for the great work he has done in getting the endangered species act reform to the floor . 
this is a very controversial issue , and he and the committee should be commended for working to address some of the real problems in the current law . 
there are a couple of provisions for which i have been a strong proponent , and i am pleased that the chairman has agreed to include them in the manager 's amendment . 
my first amendment is a common-sense one aimed at empowering electricity consumers with the `` right to know '' what they are paying for . 
this amendment simply seeks to provide `` sunshine '' and transparency to the way our federal government does business . 
specifically , the provision requires that each of the power marketing administrations , the bonneville power administration , western area power administration , southwestern power administration , and the southeastern power administration , to include costs related to the endangered species act in their customers ' monthly electricity billings . 
in the pacific northwest alone , the bonneville power administration accounts for 45 percent of the region 's electricity sales and 75 percent of the transmission lines . 
bonneville power 's rates have risen 46 percent since 2001 , due in main part to the endangered species act 's impact on the columbia/snake hydropower system . 
the agency spends an average of $ 500 million per year on esa compliance . 
to whom are these costs passed on to ? 
of course , the electricity ratepayers . 
the point of all this , mr. speaker , is that few pacific northwest consumers have a notion of the amount of money of their monthly bills that goes directly towards the endangered species act compliance , nor do they or other end-user consumers of the other power marketing administrations . 
it is estimated that as much as one third of the power bill from the bpa is devoted to salmon recovery , but no one knows for sure . 
i get a bill once a month from the power company that includes all sorts of information about tips on conserving energy and warnings on how to keep me from electrocuting myself , but nowhere does it detail what i am paying for . 
how much is for generating power and how much is for transmission costs and how much is for the esa ? 
i would like to thank the chairman for including language in the bill that consolidates jurisdiction of the endangered species act management of species under one agency . 
during my first term in congress , i introduced legislation that did just that , and i am pleased to see the concept is finally moving forward . 
noaa fisheries originally was part of the department of interior until 1970 , when noaa was created under the department of commerce to address federal management of commercial and tribal fisheries . 
this was prior to the enactment of the endangered species act of 1973 . 
now the agency 's mission of managing commercial and tribal harvests of salmon and recovering endangered species are in conflict . 
noaa fisheries and the fish and wildlife service have differing processes for handling and permitting thousands of activities that must undergo federal conciliation under the esa and competing science on how best to manage the species . 
it would be better for the species and for cost-effective government management to have one process that works . 
consolidation of agencies managing the esa will eliminate duplication and allow scarce federal resources to be focused on achieving the true objective of the endangered species act , the recovery of species through science-based management . 
i encourage members to support the rule , the manger 's amendment , and the bill and oppose the miller-boehlert substitute that lacks all the property rights protection that the committee on resources has worked so hard to restore . 
i thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue , and i look forward to the passage of this bill . 
