Jim Saxton: “with that understanding, I rise in support of House passage of S. 39, the Sustainable Fisheries Act. The House passed…”

“with that understanding, I rise in support of House passage of S. 39, the Sustainable Fisheries Act. The House passed H.R. 39, the Fisheries Conservation and Management Amendments of 1995 by a vote of 388 to 37 almost a full year ago. We in the House worked in a bipartisan fashion to craft a strong conservation measure that was fair and equitable to all fishing sectors. Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the committee, along with the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller], and the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Studds], and I know that fish do not respect the artificial boundaries imposed upon them, nor do they care which party is in power. All fisheries measures are by definition bipartisan, which is one of the reasons it is such a pleasure to chair the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans of the Committee on Resources. I thank each of my colleagues for taking into consideration the unique needs of the mid-Atlantic fishermen throughout the negotiations on H.R. 39. It was a great bill, and I cannot pretend to be as pleased about the passage of S. 39 as I was our bill. I firmly believe the House bill was far stronger and more comprehensive and made far more sense than the bill we are currently passing. So I concur with Chairman Young that it is necessary to accept the hastily assembled Senate bill, because a weaker bill that does provide some new fisheries and conservation and management guidance is better than nothing at all.”