"Despite good faith efforts, Chairman Pombo and I were not able to find common ground on amendments to the Endangered Species Act. Today, not only was fiscal responsibility thrown to the wind in this process, but we have turned back the clock to an era in which DDT was commonly known as Drop Dead Twice," said Rahall, the Ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee which has jurisdiction over wildlife issues.

     H.R. 3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005, would insulate those who use pesticides from the Endangered Species Act’s prohibitions against killing endangered and threatened species. As long as corporations comply with federal requirements to register as pesticide users, they will have no obligation to meet the requirements in the Endangered Species Act.

     According to the Congressional Budget Office, if this is enacted into law, it will increase direct spending, and would cost almost $3 billion to implement from 2006-2010.

     The cost is attributed to a new, potentially open-ended entitlement program for property developers and speculators. The bill would establish the dangerous precedent that private individuals must be paid to comply with an environmental law.

     "This section pays citizens to comply with the law. What is next: paying citizens to wear seatbelts, to comply with speed limits, to pay their taxes," declared Rahall.

     Weakening the Endangered Species Act, warned Rahall, would have serious implications on the medical field as well. Nearly 50% of all medical prescriptions dispensed annually in the United States are derived from nature or synthesized to mimic naturally occurring chemical compounds.

     "Penicillin, which is cultivated from mold fungus, has saved countless lives. And venom from snakes has led to important medications. With the extinction of a single species, gone may be the next effective treatment for cancer, AIDS, or other diseases," reasoned Rahall.

     Last week, the House Resources Committee reported out this legislation with a strong provision to create a dovetailing between allowing development to proceed and species conservation. However, an amendment adopted by the House today upsets that balance, crippling species recovery.

     "Survival is akin to keeping a patient on life support without any chance of recovery," stated Rahall.

     He concluded, "As people of faith, as I am sure we all are, we should acknowledge these words from Ecclesiastes: ‘Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath.’"