Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 4528, a bill to make technical changes to certain marine fish conservation statutes. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bishop--and, Mr. Speaker, I did ask my third cousin; he is in support, too--as well as Ranking Member Grijalva for all of their collaboration and support on this important bill. H.R. 4528 makes technical amendments to two marine fish conservation statutes, the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 and the Shark Conservation Act of 2010. First, the bill amends the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012. It clarifies that the exemption from marlin and billfish fishing in Hawaii and Pacific insular areas, as is tradition, can only be sold locally. More specifically, it clarifies these fish cannot be sold to the other 49 States. This strikes a balance between preserving traditional cultural fishing in these areas and the overall intent to prevent large-scale commercial fishing of these billfish. Second, it clarifies that, under the Shark Conservation Act of 2010, there is no language in the Shark Conservation Act that alters existing authority of the Secretary of Commerce to manage Atlantic highly migratory species under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. It also cleans up language in the Shark Conservation Act by removing an expired offset. The main goal of this is to ensure protection against shark finning. H.R.…”