mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to the substitute and in favor of the underlying bill . 
an amendment offered by the gentleman from california ( mr. radanovich ) xz4003300 in committee , which was accepted without objection , will allow local officials to perform vital work needed to prevent the potential threat of catastrophic flooding . 
i rise in opposition because this needed amendment is stripped out of the substitute . 
we know how complex federal bureaucracy can be , but in times of emergency nothing is more important than human health and safety . 
my disaster declaration and protection provision in this bill must be preserved . 
when critical levee repairs are needed to protect human life , time is of the essence . 
appropriate action to repair levees must be done quickly and can not be delayed by cumbersome paperwork and bureaucracy . 
the esa must be made flexible enough to allow timely repair and maintenance of levees before disaster strikes . 
any efforts to improve esa must include this provision which recognizes protecting the public from impending danger must take priority . 
the amendment that i offered recognizes that when critical repair , reconstruction , or improvements to levee systems are needed , the federal government should not be an impediment to targeted , urgent public safety work that must happen . 
the amendment that we offered frees local agencies from lengthy processes only for those projects where critical repairs are needed to avoid the loss of human life due to natural disaster . 
current agency regulations only allow for an expedited consultation in a presidentially declared disaster area for levee repair , but they only allow that after flood waters have topped or broken through levees and devastated the communities that they are designed to protect . 
the amendment that we offered in committee is narrowly tailored to give local flood protection officials the same flexibility to make needed repairs ; but importantly , it does so before the onset of deadly flooding . 
it is ironic that the fish and wildlife service and noaa fisheries have recently implemented emergency procedures enabling them to expedite the otherwise lengthy consultation process that has to occur before the reconstruction of levees and other flood protection infrastructure ravaged by hurricane katrina . 
thank god they did implement these procedures , because time is of the essence . 
remarkably , however , these emergency guidelines are only invoked after disaster strikes . 
there is no provision under existing law that allows for emergency measures to be taken prior to the onset of danger . 
the federal government will only expedite vital repair work that will protect people from deadly floodwaters if they first suffer the calamity that we are trying to avoid . 
my colleague advised in california back in 1990 and 1991 , the corps of engineers warned the community that their levees needed repair work . 
it took 6 years . 
tragically , right as they got approval , a flood occurred and three people lost their lives . 
we must not allow this kind of avoidable tragedy to happen again . 
the amendment that we offered reflects the commonsense notion that local flood protection districts should not have to haggle with federal agencies for more than 6 years to repair a levee , particularly when that levee has been designated as posing a potential threat to human life . 
for that reason , i stand opposed to the substitute . 
