Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Hawaii for the time. I rise today as well in support of H.R. 2504, a bill that will end the practice of duplicative export inspections for sea urchin and sea cucumbers that are being shipped overseas. This is the second time that the House has considered this legislation in recent years. I want to thank Chairman Bishop; Subcommittee Chairman Lamborn; Ranking Member Grijalva; and my good friend from California, Ranking Member Huffman, for their support in bringing this bill again to the floor today. I also want to thank my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) for being here to speak in favor of this bill today. Also, in the bipartisan effort that we are making here today, I want to recognize and thank my colleague from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), who well knows the importance of this issue and who has been an original cosponsor of this bill, both in this Congress and the last. I think it is important to explain to the Members who are here today a little bit about why this bill is important and especially critical to our Nation's sea urchin industry. As a few Members may know, but most probably don't, the sea urchin industry in Maine brings in over $5.4 million to our State every year. It supports 600 jobs, which includes harvesters of the species. Also, we have businesses in Maine which process the urchins harvested here, as well as those imported from Canada and Chile, before being exported overseas.…”