©2026 League of Conservation Voters
1979 Scorecard Vote
48
44
7
H.R. 4388. Energy and Water Appropriations. The vote is on the Johnston motion to accept the House language which exempted the Tellico Dam project in Tennessee from the Endangered Species Act and from all other federal laws. This was the last in a series of battles to save the Little Tennessee River valley from being flooded by the Tellico Dam, which a General Accounting Office study had said was economically wasteful because its costs were greater than its benefits. The dam had been stopped in the courts because it destroyed the only remaining habitat of an endangered species, the snail darter. The Administration opposed the exemption, but President Carter did sign the bill. September 10, 1979. Passed 48-44. NO was the correct vote.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters