[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3667-S3668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 797. 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, I am today reintroducing legislation to 
clarify the status of villages participating in the federally 
established Community Development Quota (CDQ) program created to assist 
economically disadvantaged communities around the edge of the Bering 
Sea.
  The CDQ program is one of the youngest but most successful of a 
variety of programs intended to improve economic opportunities in some 
of my State's most challenged communities.

[[Page S3668]]

  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.
  Senator Stevens joined me in introducing just such a remedy last 
year, but work on it was not completed and we were forced to settle for 
only temporary relief. It is time we dealt with this matter more 
appropriately.
  Alaska has been generously blessed with natural resources, but due to 
its location and limited transportation infrastructure it continues to 
have pockets of severe poverty. Nowhere is this more evident than in 
the villages around the rim of the Bering Sea.
  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 of the 
associations, 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-Stevens 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 also 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. 797

       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:
       ``(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''.
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