Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am proud to be a champion of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act--or HABHRCA-- program. The program was first created in 1998 to help address harmful algal blooms in water bodies across the country. Congress recognized the devastating impact of harmful algal blooms, both ecologically and economically, and the importance of providing resources to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to advance scientific understanding of harmful algal blooms, as well as the ability to detect, monitor, assess, and predict bloom events. In 2014 and again in 2018, I worked with then-Senator Bill Nelson to reauthorize the program in a bipartisan way. And in the 2014 legislation, I worked to ensure that freshwater bodies, specifically the Great Lakes, were a focus for the program for the first time. Since then, I have worked to secure funding for the HABHRCA program through the annual appropriations process. I am pleased to report that, today, NOAA's work through the HABHRCA program is being used by my constituents and others across the Great Lakes basin. For example, I hear from the fishing and charter boat industries that they rely on NOAA's biweekly forecasts to monitor the location of the blooms so they know what areas of the lake to avoid in order to continue operating their tourism and fishing businesses.…”