[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H4688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            OUR SALMON FISHING INDUSTRY IS HITTING THE ROCKS

  (Mr. THOMPSON of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, The Oregonian today printed, 
the west coast salmon fishing industry is nearly dead in the water, and 
everybody can see it is going to hit the rocks. But so far, the Bush 
administration is unwilling to lift a finger.
  Mr. Speaker, NOAA fisheries at the local level said it is a disaster. 
Governors in California and Oregon have said it is a disaster, but NOAA 
fisheries in Washington D.C. and the Bush administration have said to 
the west coast, drop dead, we are not even going to look at this issue 
until February.
  By the time February rolls around, fishing families and fishing 
communities throughout the coast, in my district, in Eureka, Fort 
Bragg, Fortuna, Arcada, Crescent City, they are going to be out of 
business. They are going to lose their boats. They are going to lose 
their homes. They are not going to be able to pay for their kids to go 
to college or buy insurance.
  This is a disaster. The administration is refusing to even look at 
it. The Republican Congress is ignoring this fact that working families 
are being displaced, put out of jobs and are going bankrupt.

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