[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H8986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR RESEARCH NECESSARY TO SOLVE PFIESTERIA PROBLEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, Pfiesteria has plagued North Carolina for 
many years and experts now think that this organism was first observed 
in our waters almost 20 years ago in 1978.
  While the Old North State has made multiple efforts to address this 
pestilence through estuary studies, nondischarge rules, phosphate bans, 
rapid resource teams, nitrogen load reduction, nutrient limit 
reductions, source wetland restoration programs, and a 2-year 
moratorium on new and expanding swine farms, Pfiesteria is an enigma 
for us all as it has been found in many Atlantic waters from the 
Chesapeake Bay south to Florida and west to Texas.
  We must work together constructively and effectively, Federal, State, 
and local governments and agencies, academic researchers, concerned 
citizens, to attack and find rapid and workable solutions to this 
predicament.
  Mr. Speaker, now is the time to find additional funds for Dr. 
Burkholder, one of the leading researchers in the area, as well as 
other scientists and researchers like her, in order to answer the 
remaining questions concerning the effects of Pfiesteria on humans, 
animals, and watersheds.
  The waters of North Carolina have certainly felt the effects of the 
Pfiesteria outbreak, especially in the Neuse River, the Tar River, the 
Pamlico River, as well as the entire Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary, parts 
of which are in my congressional district. There have been more than 1 
million fish killed in our State and many reports of human health 
problems. Given the adverse impact of such significant fish kills upon 
my district, North Carolina, and the mid-Atlantic, we need to seek 
solutions through aggressive research.
  Mr. Speaker, we face a very serious threat that must be addressed 
immediately. We should not rush to judgment, however. Scientific 
inquiries are ongoing, but we should not waste time. Further research 
and testing should be undertaken at once. It is my hope that funding 
for critically needed research and testing will come as a result of 
recent hearings in the Committee on Resources and the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight.
  Only through funding will come opportunities for a solution. 
Additionally, several of my mid-Atlantic colleagues and I introduced 
H.R. 2565 on September 26, 1997, the Pfiesteria Research Act of 1997. 
This bill appropriates a minimum of $5.8 million in fiscal year 1998 
and 1999 for the establishment of a research and grant program for 
Pfiesteria through EPA, USDA, and HHS.
  All North Carolinians and others who live, work, and play in the 
affected waters look forward to successful results of this research, 
and that is because many of their lives and their livelihood depend 
upon it.

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