[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S6791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BUNNING:
  S. 3602. A bill to provide duty-free treatment for certain parts of 
motor vehicles; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill to 
provide for relief from duties on the import of certain parts of motor 
vehicles. It is my intention that this duty suspension bill will be 
considered for inclusion in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, MTB, that 
the Senate Finance Committee is expected to consider this year.
  As the Members of the Senate are aware, Congress on occasion passes a 
bill, known as the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill or MTB, as a vehicle for 
enacting pending noncontroversial duty suspensions. The rules for the 
inclusion of a duty suspension in the MTB are straight forward. First 
and foremost, in order to be included in the MTB, a bill must be 
noncontroversial. A bill will be controversial if it is objected to by 
a domestic producer of the product for which the duty reduction is 
being sought. Secondly, the cost for each bill must amount to less than 
$500,000 of lost revenue per year.
  As my colleagues are aware, the MTB provides an opportunity to 
temporarily eliminate or reduce duties on narrowly defined products 
that are imported into the United States because there is not available 
domestic source for the products. These duty suspensions reduce input 
costs for U.S. businesses and thus ultimately increase the 
competitiveness of their products.
  I have been approached by a number of manufacturers in Kentucky that 
use imported inputs while making their products. These manufacturers 
have represented to me that, to their knowledge, there currently exists 
no American-made source for these inputs.
  In an effort to assist these Kentucky manufacturers, I have 
introduced in the past month a number of these duty suspension bills so 
that the items they address will be able to be considered for inclusion 
in the MTB prepared by the Senate Finance Committee.
  My intention in introducing these bills is to begin the process of 
public comment and technical analysis by the International Trade 
Commission, ITC, on the items addressed by the bills. During this 
review, the ITC will determine which of these bills are necessary and 
meet the selection criteria. My support for a duty suspension for the 
items is contingent on a determination by the ITC analysts that the 
items in question are proper candidates for inclusion in the 
noncontroversial MTB.
  I look forward to working with Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member 
Baucus and my colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee as the process 
for assembling a final MTB package continues.
                                 F_____
                                 
      By Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Ms. Stabenow):
  S. 3605. A bill to enable the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to 
investigate the effects of migratory birds on sustained productivity of 
stocks of fish of common concern in the Great Lakes; to the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I join my colleague, Senator Stabenow, in 
introducing the Great Lakes Migratory Bird Research and Management Act 
to learn more about a potential problem regarding double-crested 
cormorants.
  Cormorants are dark-feathered water birds with voracious appetites 
for alewives, perch and other fish in the Great Lakes. The double-
crested cormorants reside throughout North America, but according to 
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the largest concentration of double-
crested cormorants is in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes cormorant 
population migrates south, along the Atlantic coast and Mississippi 
River drainage to the southeastern States and Gulf of Mexico.
  The Great Lakes population of cormorants was once in great jeopardy. 
By the early 1970s, the population had been severely harmed by chemical 
exposure and human contact. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports 
that around that time the Great Lakes population fell sharply, with few 
birds remaining or breeding successfully. Since then, however, there 
has been a huge turnaround due to conservation and pollution reduction 
efforts. And today the Great Lakes population of double-crested 
cormorants is at an historically high level.
  Double-crested cormorants are very skilled at diving for fish. The 
increased population have led many people to believe that cormorants 
are at least partly responsible for declining fish populations near 
several northern Michigan communities.
  To help provide better information on the impact of cormorants on the 
fish populations in the Great Lakes, we are introducing this 
legislation, which authorizes the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to 
develop a coordinated double-crested cormorant research program. As 
part of that research program, the Commission will recommend measures 
that will provide maximum sustained productivity of fishery stocks.
  Under this legislation, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission would 
establish a committee that represents the multiple jurisdictions 
engaged in cormorants management to identify all of the existing 
control tactics and strategies in the Great Lakes region, determine the 
effectiveness of those tactics and strategies, and compare the tactics 
and strategies to the known life history of cormorant populations in 
the Great Lakes. In determining the effectiveness of existing control 
practices, the Commission will examine the impact that cormorants have 
on the Great Lakes fisheries.
  Congress has authorized tens of millions of dollars for programs 
designed to restore and protect fish in the Great Lakes. Those efforts 
are in jeopardy because of our ignorance about the impact of double-
crested cormorants on the Great Lakes fisheries. Having the best 
possible information about this unique problem is critical for ensuring 
a healthy balance between the cormorant and the fish populations.
                                 ______