[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 35 (Thursday, March 15, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H947]]
     SUPPORT THE NATIONAL SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION 
                        ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2001

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the National 
Sea Grant College Program Authorization Enhancement Act of 2001.
  In 1998, Congress passed and the President signed Public Law 105-160, 
an act to reauthorize the National Sea Grant College Program. In 
authorizing the National Sea Grant College Program, Congress stressed 
the importance of the coastal ocean, its margins, the Great Lakes and 
the Exclusive Economic Zone to the national interest and economic and 
social well-being of our Nation.
  Congress also recognized the National Sea Grants' university-based 
network offers the most cost-effective way to promote understanding, 
assessment, development, utilization and conservation of our Nation's 
coastal regions.
  But given the geographic scope and complexity of coastal regions, the 
Sea Grant faces a variety of unmet needs and challenges. These 
challenges include increased coastal growth and development and 
economic and environmental concerns.
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. has 95,000 miles of coastline and more than 3.4 
million square miles of ocean within its U.S. territorial sea. Since 
1960, the square mileage of coastal urban lands has increased by over 
130 percent. Today, approximately 54 percent of the Nation's 
population, our Nation's population, lives along the coast; and U.S. 
coastal population is expected to increase by 25 million people between 
1996 and 2015.
  There are more than 14,000 new housing starts every week in coastal 
areas, and approximately 1,300 acres of coastal lands are developed 
into urban lands every day. But our Nation's investment in coastal 
science continues to lag behind coastal population growth and 
development.
  More than 180 million people visit the Nation's coasts annually, 
affecting the coastal infrastructure and resources. In 1993, 43 percent 
of the Nation's fisheries were listed as overfished. The Nation's 6,500 
square miles of coral reefs, the rainforests of the sea, face new 
threats every day, with many already severely damaged or succumbing to 
environmental conditions and disease.
  Runoff is adding nutrients and toxic chemicals to coastal waters, 
resulting in fish kills, loss of habitat and harmful health conditions. 
Expanded international trade and travel are causing unprecedented 
invasions of non-native plants and animals into U.S. coastal waters.
  Mr. Speaker, Sea Grant's ability to address these problems have been 
significantly limited by financial resources. For example, although 54 
percent of U.S. population lives on the coast, current funding for Sea 
Grant is only about 3 percent of the equivalent Federal funding from 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture for university-based Land Grant/
Cooperative Extension Service Programs. In other words, Mr. Speaker, 
Land Grant Institutions collectively receive a direct appropriation of 
more than $550 million per year and an additional $350 million in 
Federal grant funding. I have no problems with that, Mr. Speaker. But, 
in comparison, the National Sea Grant College Program receives barely 
$58 million per year.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe it bears repeating. More than 54 percent of 
our Nation's population lives along the coast, but we only devote 
pennies to marine research. Sea Grant funds on an average less than $2 
million per State program. Many geographic regions are not represented, 
including the Western Pacific, which alone has a huge Economic 
Exclusive Zone. Some States like Mississippi and Alabama share funding, 
while other eligible States like Pennsylvania and Vermont have no 
institutional Sea Grant programs.
  On average, there are fewer than seven extension agents per coastal 
State; and, in many cases, there is only one extension agent serving a 
major urban area. In Los Angeles, for example, there is only one 
extension agent serving 14 million people. In New York City, there is 
only one serving 12 million people.
  Mr. Speaker, clearly Sea Grant's potential is limited with respect to 
its potential. The National Sea Grant College Program is a coastal 
science management and service program that engages the Nation's top 
universities through a network of 30 Sea Grant programs and some 200 
affiliated institutions located in coastal and Great Lake States and 
territories.
  Sea Grant conducts mission-critical research and development and 
utilizes a highly effective network of extension and communications 
professionals to transfer research results to users.
  Sea Grant has been actively expanding its capabilities in areas of 
national interest, including health and medicine. In fact, Sea Grant is 
looking to the sea to find new pharmaceuticals and medicines and maybe 
even a cure for cancer.
  Sea Grant is also on the cutting edge of marine science and marine 
aquaculture research. The U.S. imports over $9 billion worth of sea 
food and shellfish a year.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, a very 
conservative one.

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