mr. chairman , i rise in support of h.r. 3824 , the threatened and endangered species recovery act .  i congratulate the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo )  and the gentleman from california ( mr. cardoza )  for their outstanding work on this legislation .  this legislation will reform the 1973 endangered species act so that real species recovery can be achieved while minimizing conflict with landowners , businesses , public land managers , and communities , and particularly the farmers and ranchers of america that my committee represents .  since the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo )  introduced this bill , we have heard groups on both sides of the issue recite statistics with the intent of proving or disproving the effectiveness of the law .  well , i do not believe i can change many minds simply by pointing out that over 99 percent of the species placed on the list are still on it .  i would like to make a comparison that may put this dismal success rate in perspective .  if i , for instance , ran a hospital where only one half of 1 percent of the critical patients who checked in recovered , i could hardly claim to be doing a good job .  what we need is an endangered species law that not only protects the species , but allows them to recover , to expand and to get off of the endangered species list as a thriving species .  this is , however , the record the endangered species act has today compiled , one where only one half of 1 percent of the species have recovered .  & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; pre & gt ; [ page : h8539 ] & lt ; /pre & gt ; & lt ; /center & gt ; its proponent , nonetheless , continue to claim that that is a success .  along with its glaring shortcoming , the law contains numerous unintended consequences that have proven to be extremely harmful to landowners and local communities .  in fact , landowners have come to fear the endangered species act as it has evolved into a giant regulatory menace .  under the current law , the u.s. fish and wildlife service has the power to halt lawful landowner activities if an endangered species is identified on their property and it is determined their actions would take that species .  the landowner and his right to use his land are then simply left to the mercy of the courts .  private property rights are fundamental rights embodied in the constitution , and congress periodically needs to take steps to ensure that government is protecting them , not trampling on them .  in my own committee , the committee on agriculture , we have recently examined another example of the infringement of property rights through the use of eminent domain .  i commend the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo )  for working with us to address that problem as well .  tesra achieves a balance between environmental concerns and property rights protection through its compensation and cooperative conservation provisions .  through these provisions , this legislation will fairly compensate landowners when they must forego use of their property and provide varied and unique ways to work with landowners .  the bill also makes other important changes , such as doing away with the act 's emphasis on designating critical habitat by placing emphasis instead on functional recovery plans .  these reforms will not only be more effective in achieving species recovery , but do so in a flexible , non-adversarial manner .  i believe the protection of endangered species is exceedingly important , however , a law that forces federal wildlife officials to simply catalog declining species while alienating landowners and discouraging good management practices is a bad thing .  support this legislation .  failing to improve the lot of species in more than 99 cases out of 100 is n't working .  tesra is a commonsense step towards improving and modernizing the 35-year-old law , and i urge my colleagues to support this important legislation .  