Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Maryland for yielding time. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2019, which will provide relief and recovery assistance for those affected by natural disasters. I am pleased that this bill includes $150 million for commercial fishery and fishery resource disasters declared by the Secretary of Commerce. Oregon's commercial salmon fisheries were devastated in 2016 and 2017 when they saw more than a 70 percent decline in their salmon catch compared to the 5-year average. Despite considerable Federal and State investment in Chinook salmon recovery, many factors outside of the control of the fishing industry, including drought and changing ocean conditions exacerbated by climate change, continue to impede salmon populations. In Oregon, the 2016 salmon catch levels were so low that they measured among the worst nationwide fisheries disasters of the year. And 2017 was even worse, at less than half of the 2016 value. These disastrous salmon seasons have already hurt the distressed economies of the coastal communities that rely on the commercial fishing industry. I have heard from salmon fishermen like Jeff Reeves. He fishes, he farms, and he logs to make ends meet. He scraped, and he invested $200,000 in a boat. Then the back-to-back disaster seasons arrived, and he had to sell it.…”