Larry Kissell: “I would like to thank my colleague for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I do rise in strong support of H.R. 1160, the…”

“I would like to thank my colleague for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I do rise in strong support of H.R. 1160, the McKinley National Fish Hatchery Conveyance Act. I'd like to thank the chairman, ranking member, and staff of the Natural Resources Committee for helping us put this bill together. I also want to thank those from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and those from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that also helped my staff in putting this together. As said, the McKinley Fish Hatchery is 422 acres located in south central North Carolina, near Hoffman, North Carolina. It consists of 23 ponds with the main lake being McKinley. The water resources there cover 18 acres. This effort was first started in the mid-1990s; but due to structural problems on the dam of McKinley Lake itself, the conveyance was unable to be completed. And as also mentioned, there's been a series of MOAs between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the North Carolina Wildlife Commission. {time} 1630 In the meantime, those structural problems have been satisfied. They're no longer an issue, and we're ready to proceed with this. There has been bipartisan support, with 10 of our colleagues in North Carolina cosponsoring this bill, and both Senators from North Carolina have signed off on similar legislation in the Senate.…”