Political Quotes

“in that en bloc group of amendments was an important amendment, amendment No. 893, as modified, that was sponsored by my colleagues from the Northwest--obviously myself, Senator Murray, Senator Wyden, Senator Merkley, Senator Boxer, and Senator Feinstein. We thought it was very important that this amendment pass tonight because scientists are calling it a disease emergency; that is, that the Pacific Northwest wild salmon might be threatened by a virus that has already decimated fish farm salmon from around the world. So we want to see, first of all, important scientific questions answered about the impacts of this virus, and the threat they pose to Pacific Northwest salmon. Second, we want to make sure there is an aggressive management plan and an effective rapid response plan to deal with the threat of this virus. And, third, we want to make sure we are protecting the wild salmon and the important economy that goes with it. I know many people know the Northwest is known for a healthy salmon population, but this salmon population is also an economy for us. It is tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars as it relates to our economy. So being able to detect this virus and make sure we are assessing the potential threat to the wild salmon population is something we want to see happen immediately.…”