[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARIES RENEWAL ACT OF 1996

                                 ______


                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 14, 1996

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I am extremely happy today to be able to join 
a bipartisan coalition of marine sanctuary supporters in introducing 
the National Marine Sanctuaries Renewal Act of 1996. This bill will 
reauthorize funding for the National Marine Sanctuary Program which is 
set to expire on September 30, 1996.
  The country's 13 marine sanctuaries are the national parks of our 
oceans. They celebrate and preserve some of the Nation's most 
significant ocean resources. Like our national parks, our marine 
sanctuaries focus out attention on how important sound environmental 
stewardship is to our quality of life and the sustainability of our 
economies.
  The National Marine Sanctuary Program began modestly in 1975 off 
North Carolina's stunningly beautiful outer banks to protect the Civil 
War wreck of the world's first iron ship, the U.S.S. Monitor. The 
program expanded several years later to protect sensitive marine 
resources off the California and Florida coasts. The program reached 
its full maturity in the fall of 1992 with the designation of the 
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
  The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary embraces the entire coast 
of my central California coastal district. It is the largest protected 
marine area in the United States and second only to Australia's Great 
Barrier Reef in size worldwide. It encompasses more than 4,000 square 
nautical miles of open ocean along 350 miles of shoreline. It is unique 
among all marine preserves in being so accessible from shore. Most of 
my constituents don't pass a day without seeing sanctuary waters and 
are grateful that the sanctuary has protected their coast from offshore 
oil development.
  However, marine sanctuaries are not just about conserving resources. 
They are also about protecting coastal economies. The Monterey Bay 
Sanctuary is a key to my district's billion dollar tourism industry. 
Indeed, one of this Nation's premiere tourist attractions, the Monterey 
Bay Aquarium, is a thriving private business that showcases the 
extraordinary marine life of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary. The sanctuary 
also helps support a prosperous fish industry.
  All of this comes at a very modest cost. The entire sanctuary program 
costs less than $12 million a year to administer. It is truly a bargain 
for the taxpayers. But, like all government programs, the sanctuaries 
need to make the most of their funding. This bill helps them accomplish 
that by allowing the sanctuaries to develop, trademark, and market 
logos and other merchandise to help supplement their funding.
  I urge support of the bill.

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