[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 55 (Thursday, March 29, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E691]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE ``CHESAPEAKE'S HEALTHY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND STEWARDSHIP OF 
                  ENERGY AND AGRICULTURE'' ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2007

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
``Chesapeake's Healthy and Environmentally Sound Stewardship of Energy 
and Agriculture Act of 2007''--CHESSEA. This bill will have a major 
beneficial impact on the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and many 
of its 150 tributary streams and rivers. We invite and encourage you to 
join us as original cosponsors.
  Like many of America's natural resources, the Chesapeake Bay and its 
rivers continue to be plagued by pollution. Unfortunately, agriculture 
accounts for a significant part of the nitrogen, phosphorus and 
sediment running to the Bay. The House will soon take up the 2007 farm 
bill which will provide billions of dollars a year for farm 
conservation programs and therefore, provides an unparalleled 
opportunity for our region to address its critical conservation needs
  CHESSEA would bring significant new federal technical and financial 
assistance to farmers and landowners in the Bay watershed states to 
help them in their efforts to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment 
runoff into the streams and rivers that run to the Chesapeake Bay. It 
would also provide additional incentives for the region's farmers to 
produce new sources of renewable energy that will simultaneously 
improve water quality and reduce the impact of fossil fuel consumption 
on the atmosphere.
  Over the past five years, several Chesapeake Bay states have 
committed significant new funding to try to reach the goals of the 
federal-state Chesapeake 2000 agreement, which set specific pollution 
reduction goals for 2010. In spite of those commitments, we are far 
from meeting the 2010 goals. The experts have estimated that in order 
to meet our clean up pledge, the federal Government will have to 
provide $200 million a year. This legislation would help to fulfill the 
federal government's Chesapeake 2000 commitment to reduce nitrogen, 
phosphorus, and sediment pollution to the Bay while at the same time 
helping the region's agriculture and rural areas.
  The Chesapeake Bay and several of the major rivers that feed it, 
including the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the James, are among 
America's most stunning natural features. Approximately 400 years ago, 
Captain John Smith and the Jamestown settlers sailed into a Chesapeake 
Bay that was healthy, balanced, and among the world's most biologically 
productive places. Today, the Bay and its rivers are sadly diminished. 
The CHESSEA Act of 2007 would make significant progress toward 
restoring the Bay's balance and biological productivity to support 
generations to come.

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