Sam Farr: “I would just like to thank everybody who has worked on this bill and why, a lot of people have spoken on it, it is late…”

“I would just like to thank everybody who has worked on this bill and why, a lot of people have spoken on it, it is late at night, I know people would like to get on with the rest of the agenda for tonight. Put it in this perspective, this is the farm bill for the ocean. Next year we will spend a lot of time, an awful lot of time discussing the farm bill. What has come here is a 10-year effort since the last reauthorization, Magnuson-Stevens, to really pull all factors together. I think a body that is sitting and watching this tonight who ought to be thanked is the sea grant fellows who have come and spent a year here in the Congress who as doctorates and master's degrees in marine fisheries and marine sciences have helped a lot with this bill. I would particularly like to thank Letice Houser, who is spending her last week here in Congress as a sea grant fellow, and to all of the Members who have worked so hard. It is a good bill, and I hope it gets implemented in a very effective way to help fisheries in a responsible manner in the future.”