Political Quotes

“I thank the Senators from New England, and I am happy to answer the question and join here with my fellow coastal Senators. First, I would like to respond in my official responsibility in the Senate, which is to chair the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science. It is in that subcommittee that the NOAA--the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency--is funded. It is there that the fisheries money is spent. Any fishery disaster, in order to qualify for Federal assistance, must be certified by the Secretary of Commerce. Every single fisheries disaster in this bill has been certified by the Secretary of Commerce to meet compelling human need, economic necessity, and be within the criteria established by law. The Senator from Oklahoma, well-intentioned, is asking us to violate the law. He wants to make fisheries disasters under the Stafford Act. The Stafford Act, named after the Senator from New Hampshire--a wonderful Republican--was for FEMA. If you think you have a FEMA disaster, you go to the Governor. There has to be data collected. It has to go to the President. If you think you have a fishery disaster-- which we coastal Senators experience these days all too often--it has to go through the Secretary of Commerce. I assure those of you on the floor, all those Senators, all taxpayers listening, that every one of these fisheries disasters has been certified, has been vetted to really say that in each and every State where we respond, it meets this criterion.…”