On the recordJuly 9, 2013
I seek to identify my side with the gentleman's remarks on the importance of the Asian carp issue to the freshwater lakes of our country and certainly to Lake Erie. He and I share that. The lake is neither Republican nor Democratic. It is the largest fishery in the entire Great Lakes system, which contains 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water, and Lake Erie actually has more fish than all of the other Great Lakes combined. Honestly, this Asian carp threat is truly a nightmare for those people and the multibillion-dollar industries--the maritime industry, our fisheries, our tourism centers. I especially appreciate the gentleman's desire to have a multiagency effort and more dispatch within the executive branch to deal with the possibility of these fish, these very destructive fish, coming in and destroying our perch, our walleye--our native fish. It is a very, very worrisome invasive species to our lakes.
