Jim Saxton: “Mr. Chairman, I would first like to commend the gentleman from New York [Mr. Boehlert] for bringing this amendment back…”

“Mr. Chairman, I would first like to commend the gentleman from New York [Mr. Boehlert] for bringing this amendment back to the floor tonight, and I would also like to commend the ranking minority member for having the foresight to support it. I would just say two things. Mr. Chairman, the first point I would make is that it is impossible for the Congress of the United States to pretend that the issue of nonpoint source pollution does not exist around the coasts of the United States. It is simply impossible, because the problem is there. It is a fact of life as clear as the nose on our faces. Beaches close every year. Red tides and blue tides and green tides, they come from algae buildup because nutrient buildup is there. Organizations form around our coasts like the Committee to Save Chesapeake Bay, the Barnegat Bay Watershed Association, and other groups like that which recognize the seriousness of this problem. This House in 1990 recognized it as well. That is why we amended the Coastal Zone Management Act to provide for a nonpoint source pollution program and encouraged the States to adopt these programs. It is dumb to pretend that the problem does not exist, just plain dumb. For us to stop in the middle of the road, amend the Coastal Zone Management Act while pretending the problem does not exist, is equally dumb. I do not know any other way to say it. It just does not make any sense whatsoever.”