On the recordJune 1, 2015
I thank my colleague for yielding. I rise in opposition to H.R. 1335, legislation that is very important to reauthorize the historically bipartisan Magnuson-Stevens Act. While I have nothing but the utmost respect for my colleague from Alaska (Mr. Young), I am afraid that I fear that this legislation would take our fisheries management system in the wrong direction. The bottom line is Magnuson-Stevens is working today. U.S. fisheries have been remarkably successful since the last reauthorization in 2007, and if it isn't broken, why should we try to fix it? According to NOAA, 37 important fish stocks have been rebuilt to healthy population levels since 2000, and the number of stocks subject to overfishing has been cut nearly in half since 2006. H.R. 1335 would eliminate critical conservation tools that have been essential to our recent success and would also undermine critical environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. I hope that we can work towards a compromise so that Magnuson-Stevens can be reauthorized in a bipartisan manner, as the last two bills were. Until then, I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing H.R. 1335.
