Gary Peters

Well, if confirmed, I look forward to addressing this directly with you on behalf of a number of communities in my state, so I appreciate it.

Well, given your extensive study--just one final question, Mr. Chairman--what do you believe are the next research steps that we need to take to improve our understanding of the Great Lakes and the debris problem that's there?

We know that microfibers and other types of plastics are very extensive in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes provide drinking water to over 40 million Americans--a pretty significant source of water.

So we, as you know, last Congress, passed the Microbead Free Waters Act, which dealt with microbeads.

The administration has proposed cutting roughly about 30 percent from the State Department budget, and I'm sure that a cut of that magnitude will have significant impact on a lot of what the State Department does.

I want to thank Senator Whitehouse for his leadership on that committee.

Our oceans are a bipartisan issue.

The Save Our Seas Act encourages the administration and State Department to engage with the world's leading trash producers.

I appreciate the opportunity to spend some time with you, is the 5.9 gigahertz band, which is vitally important to automotive safety systems.

Allowing established corporations to prioritize their services or slow down their competitors I believe would put the small businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

I certainly appreciate your strong commitment as a Commissioner to maintaining a free, open, and fair Internet.

The risks to program integrity outlined in this report threaten a service that is essential to ensuring that low-income Americans can connect to employment opportunities, family members, and emergency services.

With declining unionization, declining union investment in training, somebody has to pick up the slack.

One area that does train folks are labor unions, particularly in the building trades. They have very extensive apprenticeship programs.

So you are seeing less employer investment in employees, and you are seeing wages that are not going up, even though there are shortages.

In 1981 Lake Huron's Thunder Bay became Michigan's first state Underwater Preserve dedicated to our state's maritime stories and the shipwrecks that tell those stories.

National Marine Sanctuaries provide recognition and bring international attention for the historic and unique resources that comprise U.S. marine heritage.

There are many values that the Sanctuaries Program has but to me it is that it is truly America at its best, government for the people and 'BY' the people.

I fail to understand how 'conservatives' think that exploitation of resources is going to 'Make America Great Again' if we have nothing left.

The Sanctuaries program is not a top down but a bottom up program which is designed by the collective concerns that the people of the affected area feel are worth preserving for the common good.

If I could just have a brief follow-up. So your concern, specifically, with Monterey Bay is in relation to fisheries regulations, the fact that there are no-fish zones.

Right. This is a very long and laborious process.

This is not about railroading folks. It's about trying to bring everybody together.

Which is the quote that I gave from the Commerce Secretary, that unless you have all the local stakeholders together, a marine sanctuary is not likely to be successful.