Daniel Inouye: “I rise to recognize final passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of…”

“I rise to recognize final passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 by both the Senate and the House this week, clearing the bill for Presidential approval. I am proud to have developed this bill with my friend and colleague, Senator Ted Stevens. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act is the primary Federal statute governing how we manage our Nation's fisheries and, as such, plays a vital role in our Nation's ability to achieve its overarching ocean policy goal. This bill reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Act from fiscal year 2007 through fiscal year 2013 and takes steps to improve the act both by making it more effective and responsive to the needs of our fishing communities here at home and by taking important steps toward exporting our successful management approaches internationally. After the Senate passed the bill earlier this year, Senator Stevens and I worked with the House on a bipartisan basis in order to reach consensus on a final version of the bill.”