[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 180 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H9299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CLIMATE DAMAGE WIPES OUT LIVELIHOODS

  (Ms. SPEIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, while many around the world are watching the 
climate talks in Paris, some of my constituents along the San Francisco 
Peninsula are watching the Pacific Ocean. That is because an unusually 
warm climate and water has led to a record toxic algae bloom that 
contaminates the crabs. Our critical Dungeness crab fishery is closed, 
and our fishermen are suffering.
  One Half Moon Bay fisherman said: ``If you had asked me 6 months ago 
about crab, I would've told you we're going to feed our families, we're 
going to send our kids to college. And I'm not talking just the junior 
college. If they want to go to Princeton, crab can make this happen 
with my work ethic. This situation is a new one. This was like getting 
the legs pulled out from under you.''
  So if my Republican colleagues are wondering if climate damage is 
real or if it is affecting real people, I encourage them to see the 
docked fishing boats and the landlocked crab pots in my district. 
Climate damage is wiping out people's livelihoods. We cannot let this 
become the new normal.

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