On the recordJune 9, 2010
I appreciate the support for this bill on both sides of the aisle. I would just like to address that although the resolved clause is very simple, it recognizes for the first time that Congress recognizes for the first time that we ought to recognize a day when the whole world is trying to recognize the ocean. I mean, it does cover two-thirds of our planet, and it is very important to the ecosystem and the health and well-being of mankind to have a healthy ocean. And that's, you know, in a way, as the minority speaker said, that's not a big deal when there's a huge crisis going on, but it's the first time Congress has recognized the ocean in that sense. So it is important as a first step. I think what's more important and answers some of the questions that you raise, not just the questions of cleanup in the gulf but a much bigger question that a lot of us in Congress have been asking, is: Where is our national ocean policy? We have had policy about clean water and how we want to govern that and set up a process for determining how we can ensure that water that we drink and that we disperse into the oceans is clean. We have national policy on air quality of the air we breathe, but we have no national policy on health of the oceans or even use of the oceans for fishing, for mining, for other kinds of purposes. And that is what's lacking. We're governing in a crisis because we have an oil spill.
