Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am about to ask for unanimous consent to pass a substitute amendment to the Coast Guard bill. Senator Vitter and I hope to get into a bit of a colloquy over it, but first I want to explain what we are doing here. The Coast Guard bill includes the text of S. 2963, a bill that I introduced to permanently eliminate the requirement that small fishing boats obtain a permit for discharges incidental to normal operation. This is really important for our small boat fishermen. The bill has 14 cosponsors. I am very happy that Senator Murkowski is now a cosponsor of that important legislation. This substitute that is at the desk includes that permanent fix so that never again do small fishermen have to worry about being subjected to these permits. It exempts commercial vessels less than 79 feet from having to get this discharge permit. We first enacted a moratorium on permits in 2008. We have extended it twice. The current moratorium expires next week. If we don't act, these small vessels will require a permit for the first time. So instead of kicking the can down the road again with these moratoria, I think it is time to say, once and for all, these small vessels do not and will never need a permit. I think a temporary moratorium leaves thousands of the boat operators and the fishermen in limbo instead of giving them permanent certainty. They are different from large ships that discharge ballast water and introduce harmful invasive species into our coastal waters.…”