Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4315, 21st Century Endangered Speces Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Utah (Mr. Bishop) for yielding me the time. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today is actually a package of four bills--H.R. 4315, H.R. 4316, H.R. 4317, and H.R. 4318--which aim to derail the Endangered Species Act.

The four bills are a product of the House Natural Resources Committee's Endangered Species Working Group, a committee working group which had not one Democrat Member on it, so that there was no bipartisan discussion. There is always room to discuss how we can improve legislation, but the negotiations should not be limited to backroom negotiations with a select few from a single party.

It is ironic the bill is entitled ``21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act'' when the process to create the bill was anything but transparent. If the Endangered Species Act needs to be improved in order to better achieve the bill's purpose, then let's have a robust bipartisan conversation in an open forum, which is what we call the committee process.

Now, the package we are considering today, however, does not have any bipartisan support because it would create additional red tape that undermines essential protections provided for the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act was passed over 40 years ago to protect imperiled animals and plants from extinction, and it is one of the most important tools we have to ensure our Nation's wildlife is protected for future generations.

These bills today do nothing to continue that wonderful background, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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