I am the proud author of the California Organic Act, and I am very proud that you have hired Kathleen Merrigan to be your Deputy Secretary.

National security depends on the wellbeing and quality of life of people in America. That is the first line of national security.

I think we have to realize that it doesn't just apply to Department of Defense (DoD). It applies to every federal agency.

As Members of Congress, we must enact immigration policies that are tough, fair and practical.

What we do is we monitor it now. We monitor it by--we can tag it with satellite tags if it is big enough.

Marine debris is not just an eyesore. It has enormous economic impacts.

Thank you Chairman Fleming and Ranking Member Sablan for holding a hearing on the Marine Debris Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2011 (H.R. 1171), which I introduced in March.

The only way to protect these industries and ocean-users and their contributions to the national economy is to reduce the amount of marine debris in the environment.

Our beaches and oceans have turned into landfills.

Thank you for your leadership in addressing marine debris.

Those are very expensive; they are thousands and thousands of dollars.

I bring to you today a bill that is reauthorizing what is already in the law, a bill that was created by the Chairman in the Senate, Inouye, who obviously knows the issues from representing Hawaii, and the late Senator Ted Stevens, who was…