1-1  By:  Turner (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)              H.C.R. No. 65
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House March 16, 1995;
    1-3  March 20, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on
    1-4  Natural Resources; April 19, 1995, reported favorably by the
    1-5  following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 1; April 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6                      HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-7        WHEREAS, Enacted by the United States Congress in 1973, the
    1-8  Endangered Species Act was designed to promote the laudable goal of
    1-9  protecting threatened and endangered plant and animal species; and
   1-10        WHEREAS, The act was widely viewed at the time as the most
   1-11  comprehensive environmental protection law in history but has
   1-12  evolved into a well-meaning but misguided federal policy; and
   1-13        WHEREAS, Due for reauthorization by the Congress of the
   1-14  United States, the Endangered Species Act should strike a balance
   1-15  between environmental and resource protection and the social and
   1-16  economic consequences resulting from the listing of threatened or
   1-17  endangered species; and
   1-18        WHEREAS, The current Endangered Species Act does not
   1-19  adequately consider the role of states in species protection, nor
   1-20  does it consider the social and economic implications of critical
   1-21  habitat designation or recovery plan development and
   1-22  implementation; and
   1-23        WHEREAS, The Endangered Species Act has resulted in complete
   1-24  and partial takings of private property and has threatened the
   1-25  rights of Americans to own and control their own property; and
   1-26        WHEREAS, Such intrusion by the federal government poses a
   1-27  real and substantial economic and social threat to Texans and all
   1-28  citizens of the United States; and
   1-29        WHEREAS, It is imperative that the Congress of the United
   1-30  States re-open the debate on the Endangered Species Act and apply a
   1-31  more balanced, common sense approach to habitat and species
   1-32  protection that does not jeopardize this nation's economic and
   1-33  social well-being or endanger the constitutional rights of property
   1-34  owners; now, therefore, be it
   1-35        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
   1-36  hereby strongly urge the Congress of the United States to amend the
   1-37  Endangered Species Act to require a stronger role for the states,
   1-38  consideration of private property rights, and consideration of the
   1-39  social and economic consequences in the listing and delisting of
   1-40  species, in the designation of critical habitats, and in the
   1-41  development and implementation of recovery programs for threatened
   1-42  or endangered species; and, be it further
   1-43        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
   1-44  copies of this resolution to the speaker of the house of
   1-45  representatives and president of the senate of the United States
   1-46  Congress and to all members of the Texas delegation to the congress
   1-47  with the request that it be officially entered in the Congressional
   1-48  Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of
   1-49  America.
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