mr. speaker , i rise today in support of the rule and in strong support of the underlying bill .  the endangered species act is a law with good intentions , but it has spun wildly out of control with tragic consequences for average americans .  the northern california district i represent has been ground zero for some of the worst examples of the human impacts of this law gone awry .  in 2001 , a community of family farmers in the klamath basin of northern california and southern oregon had their entire water supply shut off to prevent a perceived threat to two species of listed fish .  families who for generations had worked the soil to produce food for our nation were literally left high and dry .  to add insult to injury , it was later determined that that decision was not scientifically justified .  several years ago a levee protecting one of the communities i represent had deteriorated , and the army corps of engineers predicted that in the event of high water , there would be a significant threat to human life .  for nearly 7 years , local officials tried to repair that levee , mr. speaker , but those repairs were stymied because of the endangered species act .  those delays had tragic consequences .  the levee did break , just as the corps predicted .  tragically , three people drowned .  mr. speaker , the impact of this inflexible law have been real and devastating .  the reforms proposed by this common sense legislation are long overdue .  i commend the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo )  on his good work and urge my colleagues to support it .  