[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     MEETING OUR BINATIONAL COMMITMENTS TO PROTECT THE GREAT LAKES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 26, 1996

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I joined several 
colleagues who expressed concern about funding for the control of the 
sea lamprey, a nonindigenous creature that for more than 50 years has 
threatened the ecological and economic health of the $4 billion Great 
Lakes Fishery.
  As we prepare to consider an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 
year 1997, I thought I should share with my colleagues a communication 
I received from the Government of Canada, assuring me of our northern 
neighbor's continued commitment to the sea lamprey control program 
administered jointly with the United States through the Great Lakes 
Fishery Commission [GLFC], as well as continuation of the Great Lakes 
Fishery Convention Act.
  I was informed also that Canada is greatly concerned about action 
taken in the other body of Congress to scale back the U.S. contribution 
to the Commission by $1.5 million from the House-approved funding 
level. It is my hope that conferees to any omnibus bill will retain the 
House language on funding, but recede to Senate language which wisely 
retains the GLFC within the Department of State, as was discussed 
during debate in the House on H.R. 3814.
  Mr. Speaker, I have attached the correspondence of Canadian Charge 
d'affaires D.G. Waddell. I urge my colleagues to remember the pressing 
needs of our Great Lakes as we conclude the 104th Congress.

                                                 Canadian Embassy,


                                          Ambassade du Canada,

                               Washington, DC, September 20, 1996.
     Hon. John Dingell,
     House of Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Dingell: On January 31, you wrote to 
     Ambassador Chretien expressing concerns regarding a reduction 
     in Canadian funding and legislative initiatives for the Great 
     Lakes Fishery Commission. I am pleased to follow up, in the 
     Ambassador's absence, on his interim response to you of March 
     6. On August 7, following discussions with the Province of 
     Ontario and Canadian stakeholder groups, the Honorable Fred 
     Mifflin, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced that the 
     Federal Government has decided to maintain funding for the 
     Great Lakes Sea Lamprey Control Program for fiscal years 
     1996-97 and 1997-98. I enclose a copy of the press release 
     issued in this respect.
       I am also pleased to inform you that the Department of 
     Fisheries and Oceans has decided not to recommend the repeal 
     of the Great Lakes Fishery Convention Act.
       Meanwhile, I understand that a subcommittee of the Senate 
     Committee on Appropriations has reduced the United States 
     funding for the Commission by U.S. $1.5 million. The Canadian 
     government is accordingly concerned by what appears to signal 
     a weakening of the U.S. commitment to the goals of the 1954 
     treaty and to a strong, healthy Great Lakes fishery.
       I would, therefore, be grateful if you would convey these 
     concerns to your colleagues on the appropriate committees.
           Yours sincerely,
                                                     D.G. Waddell,
     Charge d'affaries, a.i.

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