James Oberstar: “this is a landmark day. It has been 5 years since the House has had a Coast Guard authorization bill ready to be sent to…”

“this is a landmark day. It has been 5 years since the House has had a Coast Guard authorization bill ready to be sent to the President. This bill does that. Mr. Speaker, this is a landmark day. It has been 5 years since the House has had a Coast Guard Authorization bill that is ready to be sent to the President. S. 1004, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996, authorizes funding for the Coast Guard for fiscal years 1996 and 1997 for their many missions: search and rescue; providing aids-to-navigation; drug interdiction; fisheries enforcement; icebreaking; marine pollution prevention and response; and commercial and recreational vessel safety. The House first passed its version of this legislation, H.R. 1361, way back in May of 1995. The Senate passed S. 1004 in November 1995. The House requested a conference on the Senate bill in February 1996 and the Senate finally agreed to go to conference in July. Mr. Speaker, it has been a long and arduous process. Everyone has had to reach deeply to achieve a compromise that a consensus of the Members can support. On balance, this is a very good piece of legislation.…”