[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 31 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2721-S2722]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 2197. A bill to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act to clarify the status of certain communities in the 
western Alaska community development quota program; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, as residents of sparsely populated 
State with great natural resources but severe poverty in many of its 
rural areas, Alaskans have engaged in a variety of social and economic 
exercises intended to improve the living standard and expand economic 
opportunities for our most challenged communities.
  I rise today to introduce a bill to ensure that one of the most 
successful of those exercises is allowed to continue. I am pleased to 
say the measure is also cosponsored by Alaska's senior senator.
  The CDQ Community Preservation Act is intended to maintain the 
participation of all currently eligible communities along the shore of 
the Bering Sea in Alaska's Community Development Quota program. It is 
necessary because inconsistencies in statutory and regulatory 
provisions may require a reassessment of eligibility and the exclusion 
of some communities from the program. This was not the intent of the 
original program, nor of any subsequent changes to it. In order to 
clarify that fact, a legislative remedy is needed.
  The Community Development Quota Program began in 1992, at the 
recommendation of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, one of 
the regional councils formed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act. Congress gave the program permanent 
status in the 1996 reauthorization of the Act.
  The program presently includes 65 communities within a 50 nautical-
mile radius of the Bering Sea, which have formed six regional non-
profit associations to participate in the program. The regional 
associations range in size from one to 20 communities. Under the 
program, a portion of the regulated annual harvests of pollock, 
halibut, sablefish, Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and crab is assigned to 
each association, which operate under combined Federal and State agency 
oversight. Almost all of an association's earnings must be invested in 
fishing-related projects in order to encourage a sustainable economic 
base for the region.
  Typically, each association sells its share of the annual harvest 
quotas to established fishing companies in return for cash and 
agreements to provide job training and employment opportunities for 
residents of the region. The program has been remarkably successful.
  Since 1992, approximately 9,000 jobs have been created for western 
Alaska residents with wages totaling more than $60 million. The CDQ 
program has also contributed to fisheries infrastructure development in 
western Alaska, as well as providing vessel loan programs; education, 
training and other CDQ-related benefits.
  The CDQ program has its roots in the amazing success story of how our 
offshore fishery resources were Americanized after the passage of the 
original Magnuson Act in 1976. At the time, vast foreign fishing fleets 
were almost the only ones operating in the U.S. 200-mile Exclusive 
Economic Zone. American fishermen simply did not have either the 
vessels or the expertise to participate.
  The Magnuson Act changed all that. It led to the adoption of what we 
called a ``fish and chips'' policy that provided for an exchange of 
fish allocations for technological and practical expertise. Within the 
next few years, harvesting fell almost exclusively to American vessels. 
Within a few years after that, processing almost became Americanized. 
Today, there are no foreign fishing or processing vessels operating in 
the 200-mile zone off Alaska, and the industry is worth billions of 
dollars each year.
  The CDQ program helps bring some of the benefits of that great 
industry to local residents in one of the most impoverished areas of 
the entire country. It is a vital element in the effort to create and 
maintain a lasting economic base for the region's many poor 
communities, and truly deserves the support of this body.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of my bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2197

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``CDQ Community Preservation 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT QUOTA PROGRAM.

       (a) Eligible Communities.--Section 305(i)(1) of the 
     Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
     U.S.C. 1855(i)) is amended adding at the end the following:

[[Page S2722]]

       ``(E) A community shall be eligible to participate in the 
     western Alaska community development quota program under 
     subparagraph (A) if the community was--
       ``(i) listed in table 7 to part 679 of title 50, Code of 
     Federal Regulations, as in effect on January 1, 2004; or
       ``(ii) approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service on 
     April 19, 1999.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Such section is further amended, 
     in paragraph (B), by striking ``To'' and inserting, ``Except 
     as provided in subparagraph (E), to''.
                                 ______