John Rice Carter: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for allowing me the time to speak on an issue…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for allowing me the time to speak on an issue that is important to my district and something I want other parts of the country to benefit from as well. As you can see, Mr. Speaker, I know a thing or two about fishing. In fact, Mr. Speaker, it has been said that fish tremble at the mention of my name. Mr. Speaker, it has been said that, if you put me in water, I will catch fish. This is a red snapper. This is a red snapper. It was not caught on the Gulf Coast; it was caught on the Atlantic Coast. You see, Mr. Speaker, I represent the best district in the Nation, the entire coast of Georgia, and this was caught off the coast of Georgia. But in our district fishing, is not just a hobby, it is a way of life. In fact, it is an essential part of coastal economies. That is why it is critical that we maintain and manage our fisheries in a sustainable way. This bill that we are discussing today, the DESCEND Act, would help do just that by expanding mandatory use of descending devices in the Gulf of Mexico when fishing for popular reef fish. We use these devices on the Atlantic Coast now. In fact, I have used them before when I have fished. Reef fish, like red snapper that you see here, are very popular fish to fish for, but they are mostly caught, as was pointed out earlier, near the bottom of the ocean, and often they must be released because they are out of season or because of size restrictions.…”