Jay Rockefeller: “today the Senate will pass a comprehensive public lands bill that will protect our Nation's public lands and conserve…”

“today the Senate will pass a comprehensive public lands bill that will protect our Nation's public lands and conserve our planet's oceans. I thank the majority leader and Senator Bingaman for including important bills from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in this package. I commend Senators Inouye, Stevens, Cantwell, Snowe, Lautenberg, and Gregg for their leadership in drafting these bills. Senator Inouye, in particular, has aggressively advocated for improved stewardship of our oceans and this package reflects his careful work as chairman of the Commerce Committee which has jurisdiction over our Nation's oceans. As the incoming chair of the Commerce Committee, I will continue to work closely with my dear friend and mentor Senator Inouye on these issues. And I look forward to collaborating closely with him on oceans policy and other areas in the committee's jurisdiction that are particularly critical to the Hawaiian Islands. Our colleagues should know that the ocean and coastal bills included in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act enjoy broad bipartisan and national support because they are sorely needed and important to our Nation's environmental and economic future. The Federal Government owns nearly 653 million acres of land in the United States. As the owner of these lands, the Federal Government has a responsibility to protect this land for current and future generations.”