Political Quotes

“I rise to express my opposition to S. 140, the Coast Guard reauthorization bill, because it prevents State regulation of the discharge of pollutants from vessels engaged in maritime commerce and because it exempts one certain vessel from current fire safety standards. First, the bill includes a provision, known as the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, which would dictate how ballast water from ships is regulated in the United States. While I appreciate the hard work of the Senate Committees on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Environment and Public Works and their commitment to bipartisan negotiation on this issue, I unfortunately cannot support a bill that includes the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act, even as currently modified. The problem is that this provision preempts Maryland's authority to set standards on the discharge of ballast water from ships that are more protective of the Chesapeake Bay than the standards set by the Federal Government. Ballast water can contain invasive species like blue catfish and zebra mussels, among a host of others, that threaten the delicate balance of life in the bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary. It generates $1 trillion in economic benefit to the watershed region. The shoreline of the Chesapeake and its tidal tributaries stretches for over 2,000 miles. More than 100,000 streams and rivers and thousands of acres of wetlands provide the freshwater that flows into the Chesapeake Bay.…”