[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 87 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7446-S7447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RED TIDE EMERGENCY RELIEF ACT OF 2005

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1316 introduced earlier 
today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1316) to authorize the Small Business 
     Administration to provide emergency relief to shellfish 
     growers affected by toxic red tide losses.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today Senator Snowe and I have introduced a 
bill to help a group of nearly 300 fishermen, known as aquaculturists, 
who are falling through the cracks of the Government's disaster 
assistance programs. Right now these businesses are prohibited from 
receiving SBA disaster loans, and they are eligible for USDA disaster 
loans only under limited circumstances.
  To our dismay, we have learned that SBA has come across this dilemma 
many times in the past, most recently last year in Connecticut, and yet 
no one at that agency has ever tried to coordinate with the Department 
of Agriculture. To make matters worse, the SBA waited two weeks to let 
us know that they wouldn't be able to serve all our small businesses. 
So even in those cases in which these harmed small businesses would be 
eligible for loans from the USDA, hundreds of small businesses are left 
waiting for the Secretary of Agriculture to go through the same hoops 
to certify a disaster and make that agency's disaster loans available. 
I appreciate all the Farm Service Agency has done to expedite the 
process, and compliment their staff for being so responsive. However, 
this isn't right.
  Our State has been hit by the worst case of red tide in more than 30 
years. These small business owners have seen their income disappear 
because they can't sell their inventory. With no income they can't pay 
their bills, invest in seeds to plant future crops, and they can't 
afford to maintain their current crops. They need access to these low-
cost loans to help them makes ends meet until the Government opens the 
shores and declares shellfish once again safe to eat.
  Businesses in trouble can't, and shouldn't have to, wait for this 
redtape to be resolved. To make sure this doesn't happen in the future, 
I am joining Senator Snowe to make it possible for aquaculturists to be 
eligible for SBA economic injury disaster loans. This will complement 
what the Department of Agriculture's Farm Services Agency can offer in 
disaster loans. I want to also assure my colleagues that businesses are 
only eligible for loans through the SBA or Farm Service Agency but not 
both. This is already prohibited by law, and the agencies have in place 
procedures to protect against misuse. I than Senator Snowe for working 
with me to help our fishermen hurting from red tide.
  I ask unanimous consent that an article on this problem be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

      Shellfish Growers Feel Snubbed by ``Red Tide'' Loan Program

                         (By Michael Kunzelman)

       Boston.--Shellfish grower Barbara Austin has been out of 
     work, just like hundreds of shellfishermen, ever since a 
     toxic ``red tide'' closed shellfishing areas across the state 
     earlier this month.
       The difference is that she and nearly 300 other 
     aquaculturists aren't eligible for the same low-interest 
     loans to help them weather the financial storm.
       Austin, of Wellfleet, pursued a loan from the Small 
     Business Administration before learning they're reserved for 
     the state's roughly 1,500 shellfishermen. The state's 287 
     licensed aquaculturists, who plant and harvest shellfish, 
     aren't eligible because the SBA considers them farmers, not 
     fishermen.
       Austin said the rule was ``kind of a slap in the face.''
       ``If they're going to make offers like this, they should 
     have been clear about what they're really offering,'' she 
     said Tuesday.
       In response, members of the state's congressional 
     delegation Tuesday sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary 
     Mike Johanns, urging him to make emergency financial 
     assistance available to aquaculturists and fish farmers in 
     eight Massachusetts counties.
       Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who also spearheaded a 
     letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Director 
     Michael Brown asking him to meet with the delegation, said 
     FEMA should coordinate the federal disaster relief for those 
     affected by the red tide.
       The shellfishermen, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 
     ``shouldn't be blocked from receiving low interest loans 
     because of bureaucratic red tape.''
       The SBA's enforcement of an ``obscure rule'' was a 
     surprise, said Mark Forest, district director for U.S. Rep. 
     William Delahunt, D-Mass.
       ``Obviously, we are not pleased,'' Forest said. ``We're 
     working to get the problem fixed quickly.''
       Efforts to reach SBA regional director William Leggerio 
     weren't immediately successful Tuesday.
       On June 9, Gov. Mitt Romney declared a state of emergency 
     and asked the SBA for disaster assistance for the 
     shellfishing industry, which is losing an estimated $3 
     million a week. Less than a week later, the SBA announced 
     that it would offer loans of up to $1.5 million with a 4 
     percent interest rate.
       Other forms of financial assistance could be available 
     soon. The state also is asking for disaster aid from the 
     Federal Emergency Management Agency.
       In the meantime, most of the shellfish beds shut down along 
     the coast of Massachusetts will remain closed for at least 
     four to five more weeks, state shellfish biologist Michael 
     Hickey said Tuesday.
       Hickey said the size and intensity of the toxic algae bloom 
     is dropping in the waters off the North Shore and Cape Cod, 
     but it could take two more weeks for the bloom to completely 
     disappear. After that, he added, it would take two to three 
     more weeks before shellfish beds can reopen.
       ``The good news is that areas we do have open are safe. The 
     shellfish on the market is safe. The beaches are safe,'' 
     Hickey said. ``The bad news is, it's not over. (The bloom) is 
     not going to be over for another couple of weeks.''
       The red tide algae contaminates shellfish such as clams and 
     mussels, making them unsafe for people and animals to eat. 
     The outbreak is the region's worst since 1972.


[[Page S7447]]


  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time 
and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any 
statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 1316) was read the third time and passed, as follows:

                                S. 1316

       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 ``Red Tide Emergency Relief 
     Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) shellfish growers, known as ``aquaculturists'', from 
     the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine to Buzzards Bay in 
     Massachusetts have suffered substantial economic injury due 
     to the worst occurrence of toxic algae bloom, known as ``Red 
     Tide'', along the New England Coast since 1972;
       (2) toxins produced by the Red Tide algae contaminate 
     shellfish like clams and mussels, making them unsafe for 
     people and animals to eat, forcing the extended closure of 
     shellfish beds along contaminated areas.
       (3) hundreds of shellfish growers have been affected by the 
     Red Tide, and losses industrywide are estimated at $3 million 
     a week; and
       (4) shellfish growers are currently considered to be 
     agricultural enterprises, and are therefore ineligible for 
     economic injury disaster loans available to other small 
     business concerns through the Small Business Administration;
       (5) shellfish growers are only eligible for emergency loans 
     through the Farm Service Agency of the Department of 
     Agriculture under limited circumstances;
       (6) the Small Business Act should be amended to make 
     shellfish growers eligible for emergency small business 
     assistance, as a complement to assistance otherwise offered 
     through Federal programs.

     SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE DISASTER ASSISTANCE TO 
                   AQUACULTURE ENTERPRISES.

       Section 18(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     647(b)(1)) is amended--
       (1) by striking ``aquaculture,''; and
       (2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end ``, other 
     than aquaculture''.

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