[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 175 (Monday, December 17, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13356-S13357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE PACIFIC SALMON RECOVERY ACT

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, Senator Boxer introduced last Thursday, 
December 13, 2001, the Pacific Salmon Recovery Act that will grant 
Federal funding for State and Tribal salmon recovery efforts in 
California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. I would like to 
thank her and her staff for their hard work and for Senator Boxer's 
determination to have a bipartisan bill on salmon recovery. I also 
would like to thank my colleague from Idaho, Senator Crapo, Senators 
Smith and Wyden from Oregon, and Senator Feinstein from California, for 
their valuable input that clearly helped to create responsible and 
effective bipartisan legislation to recover salmon. I enjoyed working 
with all of them and their staff.
  For over 20 years, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, 
have attempted mightily to sustain salmon runs in river basins 
throughout the West and, along with the Federal Government, have 
invested billions of dollars in that effort.
  Many individual citizens in my State of Idaho and some special 
interest groups from around the country have quite frequently 
criticized justly the expenditures of these large sums of money for 
salmon recovery. The criticism often pointed to poor coordination among 
State, Federal, and Tribal fish and wildlife agencies, as well as to 
ineffective recovery programs developed either by those agencies or 
under their supervision.
  The Pacific Salmon Recovery Act, S. 1825, takes aim at these 
infirmities and establishes a framework that will ensure better 
coordination and more effective recovery programs. I am convinced that 
we'll get better ``bang for the buck'' if this bill is enacted.
  However, salmon recovery is complex. Recent scientific research has 
underscored the difficulty in finding quick solutions to salmon 
recovery. Scientists have been candid in stating unequivocally that 
there is no ``silver bullet'' that can cure what is causing diminishing 
salmon returns. The focus on dam removal during the last several years 
has retarded progress in recovering salmon. The majority of a salmon's 
life cycle is spent in the ocean. It is there that the salmon nourishes 
itself and prepares for the arduous journey back to spawning areas. 
What is becoming increasingly clear from new ocean research is that 
warm ocean temperature is causing a severe reduction in the ocean's 
salmon carrying capacity. More research in this area will provide 
helpful insight as to what can be done to adjust to that devastating 
fact. The recent change to colder Pacific Ocean temperatures is widely 
credited for the record salmon returns that the Pacific Northwest has 
experienced this year. It is my hope that a more open dialogue on ways 
to approach salmon recovery will ensure continued progress on effective 
measures that will both recover these fish and protect the economy of 
the West. It is my belief that this bill will enhance the prospect of 
achieving that goal.
  There are many good provisions in this bill. For example, it 
authorizes $350 million a year over the next five years to be spent on 
salmon recovery, a sizable amount that I hope will be appropriated by 
Congress each of those years. But I would like to highlight the peer 
review provisions in particular. Those provisions require each State or 
Tribal science based recovery activity to undergo scientific peer 
review before that activity will be funded with Federal money. It is 
modeled on the very successful peer review requirement contained in the 
Northwest Power Act for State and Tribal salmon recovery programs that 
get Pacific Northwest ratepayer money.
  Ensuring accountability for large expenditures of taxpayer money is 
essential to keep the trust of the American taxpayer.

[[Page S13357]]

  The American taxpayers are entitled to a fair accounting and an 
objective review of the underlying science that supports many of the 
very expensive recovery plans, particularly the salmon supplementation 
and habitat restoration programs, that will be developed by the States 
and participating Tribes.
  The peer review requirement in this bill will provide the reasonable 
assurances of competency for those expensive programs that the taxpayer 
deserves.
  Again, I thank my colleagues from Idaho, California, and Oregon for 
their strong support and commitment to include Idaho in the quest to 
achieve successful salmon recovery in the West and for their tireless 
efforts over the last several months to draft the appropriate 
legislative framework in which to accomplish the complex task of 
recovering those marvelous and important fish.

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