[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 82 (Thursday, June 5, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S7483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Murray):
  S. 1193. A bill to provide for qualified withdrawals from the Capital 
Construction Fund for fishermen leaving the industry and for the 
rollover of Capital Construction Funds to individual retirement plans, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am pleased today to introduce the Capital 
Construction Fund Qualified Withdrawal Act of 2003. My friends and 
colleagues, Senator Smith and Senator Murray, join me in introducing 
this important bill.
  In January of 2000, a fishery disaster was declared by the Secretary 
of Commerce for the West Coast groundfish fishery. Due to major 
declines in fish population, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council 
decreased groundfish catch quotas by 90 percent. Today, the groundfish 
fishery in Oregon and adjoining States in the Pacific Northwest 
continues to face daunting challenges as a result of this disaster. 
Fishery income has dropped 55 percent and over a thousand fishers face 
bankruptcy. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has called for a 50 
percent reduction in fishing capacity as part of their strategic plan 
for the recovery of the fishery. This legislation supports this effort 
by reforming the Capital Construction Fund in a way that will ease the 
groundfish fishers' transition away from fishing.
  The Capital Construction Fund, CCF, Merchant Marine Act of 1936, 
amended 1969, 46 U.S.C. 1177, has been a way for fishers to accumulate 
funds, free from taxes, for the purpose of buying or refitting fishing 
vessels. It was conceived at a time when the federal government wanted 
to help capitalize and expand American fishing fleets. The program was 
a success: it led to a larger U.S. fishing fleet. However, fish 
populations declined and the U.S. commercial fishing fleet is now over-
capitalized. The CCF's usefulness has not kept up with the times, and 
now it exacerbates problems facing U.S. fisheries, including the West 
Coast groundfish fishery.
  Now is the time to help fishers, who wish to do so, to leave the 
fleet.
  In Oregon, the amounts in CCF accounts range from $10,000 to over 
$200,000. This legislation changes current law to allow fishers to 
remove money from their CCF for purposes other than buying new vessels 
or upgrading current vessels, without losing up to 70 percent of their 
CCF funds in taxes and penalties. This legislation changes the CCF so 
fishers who want to opt out of fishing are not penalized for doing so.
  This bill takes a significant step towards helping fishermen and 
making the West Coast groundfish fishery and the commercial fishing 
industry sustainable by amending the CCF to allow non-fishing uses of 
investments. This bill amends the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 and the 
Internal Revenue Code to allow funds currently in the CCF to be rolled 
over into an IRA or other types of retirement accounts, or to be used 
for the payment of an industry fee authorized by the fishery capacity 
reduction program, without adverse tax consequences to the account 
holders. This bill will also encourage innovation and conservation by 
allowing fishers to use funds deposited in a CCF to develop or purchase 
new gear that reduces bycatch.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this 
legislation.
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