Bill Flores: “First of all, I think now that you have heard the arguments against my amendment, it is important to set the record…”

“First of all, I think now that you have heard the arguments against my amendment, it is important to set the record straight as far as what the real history was. Congress did pass an act to establish a National Ocean Commission. That Commission was appointed by President Bush. And it made recommendations, but it did nothing else. Those recommendations were considered by the 108th, 109th, 110th, and 111th Congresses, and Congress elected to take no action on those recommendations. Therefore, it is the intent of Congress that no further activity take place. The President has wired around Congress by signing this executive order to establish a commission to empower 63 agencies to go spend money for which no funds have been appropriated and under which it has no statutory authority. I have got 93 interests that include fishing, agricultural, farming, energy, and other industries that are concerned about the impact of this Federal overreach. Again, this is a simple amendment that just stands up for the constitutional rights of this Congress to create the statutes under which this activity can be conducted. We may not be against ocean planning. What we are for, though, is for the Constitution and to stand up for our congressional rights to enact the statutes related to this activity. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Flores). The amendment was agreed to.…”