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The Act's History and Framework 15 Though the actual terms of the convention fell short of those envisioned in the 1969 act, CITES has been one of the most lasting international elements of the U.S. endangered species program. THE 1973 ACT In an environmental message to the nation on February 8, -1972, President Nixon declared that current legislation did not pro- vide the management tools needed to save a vanishing species. He then suggested the need for legislation that would make it a federal offense to take any endangered species and would pro- vide protection before a species was in critical danger of extinc- tion 6 His statements came at the height of the environmental movement. They reflected a groundswell of public support for environmental preservation in general and endangered species protection in particular. This wave of environmental awareness set in motion an array of environmental legislation that included the Endangered Spe- cies Act of 1973. The authors of the 1973 act set out not only to remedy the shortcomings of previous acts but also to make a bold collective statement of moral and legal conviction regard- ing endangered species. Among the act's provisions is a broad prohibition of the taking of endangered species anywhere in the United States; a requirement that no federal agency may jeopar- dize the continued existence of an endangered species; an exten- sion of protection not only to species presently threatened with extinction but also to those found likely within the foreseeable future to become threatened; and the elimination of limits on land acquisition funds that could be used to purchase endan- gered species habitat. Unlike the 1969 act, the 1973 statute was passed with virtually no opposition. It was viewed largely as a symbolic issue with few obvious costs. Even in subsequent reauthorization efforts when it had become clear that endangered species protection meant significant restrictions on commerce and development, support for the basic tenets of the act did not waver. In short, it is difficult (at least in an abstract sense) to argue in favor of ex- tinction. Hence, debate over the 1973 bill centered more on