Porter Goss: “American commercial fishing fleets need this bill to pass before the April 1 deadline--or they face severe consequences.…”

“American commercial fishing fleets need this bill to pass before the April 1 deadline--or they face severe consequences. I understand this fact. However, the legislation we are considering reauthorizes for 6 years a law which has a tremendous impact on coastal States. Yet H.R. 2760 was moved through subcommittee and committee markups to be considered on the floor under the suspension process, which effectively prevents Members from exercising their right to offer amendments on the floor. I predict that in our rush, we will end up with a less-than-best piece of legislation, or at least one with significant omissions. For instances, I would have liked to have worked out and offered an amendment to allow States to provide additional protection for marine mammals which reside in State waters. By so amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act [MMPA], we could close a loophole that actually hinders or removes protection for marine mammals in some instances. I believe that it is an unfortunate irony that under the current rules of the MMPA, States are denied the ability to safeguard specific populations of mammals in certain carefully designated waters of their own.”