©2025 League of Conservation Voters
1979 Scorecard Vote
156
258
20
HR 4388. The vote is on the Breaux motion that the House accept the Senate version of the bill and drop its own provisions regarding the Tellico Dam. The House version mandated construction of the dam notwithstanding the provisions of the Endangered Species Act or any other Federal law. The Supreme Court earlier ruled the dam in violation of the Act. House language had been slipped into the bill and passed by voice vote without debate or even the knowledge of most House Members. The Senate version had no such exemptions and therefore stopped the dam. A study by the GAO concluded that Tellico was an economic boondoggle whose costs outweighed its benefits. It would destroy the only remaining habitat of the snail darter, drown sacred Indian lands and drive hundreds of small farmers off their lands. The House language set a dangerous precedent for future exemptions that would weaken the Endangered Species Act. The Carter Administration favored the Breaux motion but did not lobby. Rejected 156-258. August 2, 1979. Yes is the correct vote.
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