Chellie Pingree: “I thank my colleague for yielding me time, and I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman) for raising concerns…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding me time, and I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman) for raising concerns that I think many of us have. But in this case, I am supporting this amendment. Mr. Chair, I have long fought to protect the health of our oceans and the sea life that inhabit them. That is why I have opposed the Trump administration's plan to drill in the gulf of Maine since day one. And I am proud that this Chamber recently passed our ocean acidification bill. Along with my colleague from Maine's Second District, we represent 90 percent of all the lobster landings in the United States. Lobster is an iconic symbol of our State, especially this time of year when Mainers and visitors from across the country enjoy our coastline and our food. I am proud of our very well-managed and highly restrictive lobster fishery of responsible operators. We need to work together on a new peer-reviewed tool to address this problem. Our State also is the home of a vibrant conservation movement that supports marine conservation and protecting the right whale. We have been successful over the past several years in creating tools with NOAA, our lobster industry, and conservationists. Indeed, the State of Maine has been actively involved in right whale conservation and worked with NOAA in the past to ensure that our State is doing all we can to keep whales safe in our very active fisheries.…”