Ben Cardin

The exemption is too broad in that bill?

I fully recognize the need for you to have the authority to go after those who have damaged our refuges and to be able to get the compensation you need in order to restore and repair what has been done.

There seems to be general agreement that the quagga mussel should be listed.

Now is the time for Congress to authorize the GLRI for the long haul.

Can you get those comments to us as quickly as possible?

Senator Heller's proposal dealing with the quagga mussel, do you have a view on that?

Senator Levin's bill authorizes the GLRI, among other important Great Lakes programs.

It would be helpful if you could get specific comments to us as soon as possible as far as legislative changes because I cannot speak for the Chairman of the committee, but I know the calendar is moving.

We appreciate your leadership on this issue. You have been a strong leader in the areas of adaptation.

I believe this is a common sense approach to prevent the further spread of invasive species.

I have worked closely on this legislation with Congresswoman Louise Slaughter in response to the real and severe threats that my State of New York faces with regard to invasive species.

I urge the members of this subcommittee to support this legislation so that we can put an end to inhumane, dangerous and wasteful private ownership of big cats.

It makes no sense, and we have to improve the Federal Government's ability to quickly respond to these threats.

You have some concerns with Senator Blumenthal's bill, that the exemption may be too broad also.

This, to me, has been a very helpful hearing. It is a dimension of our Rebalance to Asia that needs to have a spotlight on it.

I think most people in this country--a large number of people in this country would not want to participate in forced labor.

I cannot say thank you enough to you about this--but, in S. 744, Subtitle F removes those recruitment fees.

Thank you, Senator Rubio.

The three areas of recommendations that you made--the trade agreements, dealing with legislation to deal with labor recruiters, and then more consumer activism--consumers understanding what they are involved with.

We have up to 4 million people in Malaysia that are emigrants.

I do not think people really understand that there are people being trafficked and sold to a boat for 9 years for fishing.

It took a major effort to be able to turn that around.

I want to touch on the two areas that we need to have a better public understanding of what is going on.

There are absolutely products being made with forced labor that are in our grocery stores, in our retail stores.

We need to regulate labor recruiters around the world.