Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of this amendment which would remove the provision in this bill which prohibits funding from being used to implement National Ocean Policy. This provision represents yet another in a long line of attempts by House Republicans to weaken an effective, common sense policy that protects our nation's oceans. National Ocean Policy allows federal agencies to coordinate implementation of more than 100 ocean laws, and allows state and local governments to have a say in the ocean planning process. In my home state of Rhode Island, the Ocean State, a strong National Ocean Policy is vital to our economy. Rhode Island's ocean economy generates more than $2 billion annually, including more than $1.4 billion from the travel and tourism industries, and nearly $94 million from the commercial fishing industry. On top of this, Rhode Island's Ocean economy supports more than 41,000 jobs. My state, as well as all coastal states, depends on clean, viable oceans to support these industries, which is why it is such a terrible idea to undermine the development of a strong National Ocean Policy. National Ocean Policy does not create any new regulations, supersede existing regulations, rather, it helps coordinate the implementation of and compliance with existing regulations in order to ensure a more efficient and effective decision making process.…”