[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5067-H5068]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXEMPTING IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION OF SEA URCHINS AND SEA CUCUMBERS 
           FROM ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4245) to exempt importation and 
exportation of sea urchins and sea cucumbers from licensing 
requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4245

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXEMPTION OF EXPORTATION OF CERTAIN ECHINODERMS 
                   AND MOLLUSKS FROM PERMISSION AND LICENSING 
                   REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Exemption.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Director of the United States 
     Fish and Wildlife Service shall amend section 14.92 of title 
     50, Code of Federal Regulations, to clarify that--
       (1) fish or wildlife described in subsection (b) are 
     fishery products exempt from the export permission 
     requirements of section 9(d)(1) of the Endangered Species Act 
     of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1538(d)(1)); and
       (2) any person may engage in business as an exporter of 
     such fish or wildlife without procuring permission under such 
     section of that Act or an export license under subpart I of 
     part 14 of such title.
       (b) Covered Fish or Wildlife.--The fish or wildlife 
     referred to in subsection (a) are members of the phylum 
     Echinodermata that are commonly known as sea urchins and sea 
     cucumbers, and members of the phylum Mollusca that are 
     commonly known as squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, including 
     products thereof, that--
       (1) do not require a permit under part 16, 17, or 23 of 
     title 50, Code of Federal Regulations;
       (2) are harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the 
     United States or are processed in the United States; and
       (3) are--
       (A) exported for purposes of human or animal consumption; 
     or
       (B) taken in waters under the jurisdiction of the United 
     States or on the high seas for recreational purposes.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.


                             General Leave

  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include any extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4245, introduced by our Maine colleagues, Chellie 
Pingree and Bruce Poliquin, makes a commonsense adjustment to the 
Federal law to eliminate regulatory duplication.
  This bipartisan bill, as reported, protects fishermen, small 
businesses, and their fresh, domestically harvested seafood destined 
for export by exempting them from the duplicative U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service inspections and permits.
  During the legislative hearing on H.R. 4245, both sides of the aisle 
expressed concerns over these inspections, especially on sea urchin. In 
fact, one of our minority colleagues said it best when he called the 
inspections dramatic overkill. In addition, one witness discussed how 
Federal inspection delays have spoiled shipments that cost businesses 
thousands of dollars. This bill removes that Federal delay.
  I commend our Maine colleagues for working on a bipartisan basis to 
address this matter.
  Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an exchange of letters with the 
chairmen of the House Ways and Means and the Foreign Affair Committees 
regarding this bill. We thank them for agreeing to help expedite 
consideration on this bill today.
  I urge the adoption of this commonsense measure.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Natural Resources,

                                     Washington, DC, July 7, 2016.
     Hon. Kevin Brady,
     Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: On December 10, 2015, the Committee on 
     Natural Resources favorably reported as amended H.R. 4245, to 
     exempt exportation of certain echinoderms and mollusks from 
     licensing requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 
     1973. This bill was referred primarily to the Committee on 
     Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 
     and Means and Foreign Affairs. My staff has forwarded the 
     reported text to your committee for review.
       Based on this text, I ask that you allow the Committee on 
     Ways and Means to be discharged from further consideration of 
     the bill so that it may be scheduled by the Majority Leader. 
     This discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction over the 
     subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as 
     precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a 
     conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your 
     request to have the Committee on Ways and Means represented 
     on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to 
     include this letter and any response in the bill report filed 
     by the Committee on Natural Resources to memorialize our 
     understanding, as well as in the Congressional Record.
       Thank you for your consideration of my request, and I look 
     forward to further opportunities to work with you this 
     Congress.
           Sincerely,

                                                   Rob Bishop,

                                                         Chairman,
     Committee on Natural Resources.
                                  ____

         House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means,
                                     Washington, DC, July 7, 2016.
     Hon. Rob Bishop,
     Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Bishop: Thank you for your letter concerning 
     H.R. 4245, to exempt the importation and exportation of sea 
     urchins and sea cucumbers from licensing requirements under 
     the Endangered Species Act. As you note, the Committee on 
     Ways and Means was granted an additional referral.
       I appreciate your willingness to work with my Committee on 
     this legislation. In order to allow H.R. 4245 to move 
     expeditiously to the House floor, I agree to waive formal 
     consideration of this bill. The Committee on Ways and Means 
     takes this action with our mutual understanding that by 
     foregoing consideration on H.R. 4245 at this time, we do not 
     waive any jurisdiction over subject matter contained in this 
     or similar legislation. and that our Committee will be 
     appropriately consulted and involved as this bill or similar 
     legislation moves forward. Our Committee also reserves the 
     right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of 
     conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this or 
     similar legislation, and asks that you support any such 
     request.
       I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming 
     this understanding, and would request that you include a copy 
     of this letter and your response in the Congressional Record 
     during the floor consideration of this bill. Thank you in 
     advance for your cooperation.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Kevin Brady,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Natural Resources,

                                  Washington, DC, August 30, 2016.
     Hon. Edward R. Royce,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: On December 10, 2015, the Committee on 
     Natural Resources favorably reported as amended H.R. 4245, to 
     exempt exportation of certain echinoderms and mollusks from 
     licensing requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 
     1973. This bill was referred primarily to the Committee on 
     Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on 
     Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means. My staff has forwarded 
     the reported text to your committee for review.
       Based on this text, I ask that you allow the Committee on 
     Foreign Affairs to be discharged from further consideration 
     of the bill so that it may be scheduled by the Majority 
     Leader. This discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction 
     over the subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as 
     precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a 
     conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your 
     request to have the Committee on Foreign Affairs represented 
     on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to 
     include this letter and any response in the bill report filed 
     by the Committee on Natural Resources to memorialize our 
     understanding, as well as in the Congressional Record.

[[Page H5068]]

       Thank you for your consideration of my request, and I look 
     forward to further opportunities to work with you this 
     Congress.
           Sincerely,

                                                   Rob Bishop,

                                                         Chairman,
     Committee on Natural Resources.
                                  ____

         House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                  Washington, DC, August 31, 2016.
     Hon. Rob Bishop,
     Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for consulting with the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs on your committee-reported text 
     of H.R. 4245, a bill to exempt exportation of certain 
     echinoderms and mollusks from licensing requirements under 
     the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
       I agree that the Foreign Affairs Committee may be 
     discharged from further action on this bill so that it may 
     proceed expeditiously to the Floor, subject to the 
     understanding that this waiver does not in any way diminish 
     or alter the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee, 
     or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or 
     similar legislation in the future. The Committee also 
     reserves the right to seek an appropriate number of conferees 
     to any House-Senate conference involving this bill, and would 
     appreciate your support for any such request.
       I ask that you place our exchange of letters into the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. 
     I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and 
     look forward to continuing to work with you as this measure 
     moves through the legislative process.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Edward R. Royce,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree), the sponsor of this bill.
  Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Beyer) for yielding the time, and I also thank my colleague from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for speaking in support of this as well.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 4245, a bill that will end the 
practice of export inspections for sea urchin, sea cucumbers, squid, 
and cuttlefish that are being shipped overseas as part of our Nation's 
fisheries and fish processing industry.
  At the outset, I want to thank Chairman Bishop, subcommittee Chairman 
Fleming, Ranking Member Grijalva, and my good friend from California, 
Ranking Member Huffman, for their support and help in getting this bill 
through the committee and to the House floor today. I want to recognize 
my friend and colleague from Maine (Mr. Poliquin) who has been an 
original cosponsor of this bill and a tireless supporter of this 
effort.
  To better understand this bill, I would like to tell you a little bit 
about the sea urchin industry in Maine, which is a critical part of our 
marine economy. Second only to California, the sea urchin industry in 
Maine brings over $5.4 million to our State every year and supports 600 
jobs, which includes harvesters up and down our beautiful coast.
  Companies in Maine also process urchins that are harvested here, as 
well as those from Canada and Chile, before being exported overseas. In 
Japan and other parts of Asia, urchins are a valuable delicacy, known 
in sushi restaurants as uni. They are also a delicacy here in the 
United States and are very highly regarded.
  Urchins imported to Maine from other countries are inspected by the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service upon entering the country. Relatively 
recently, the Fish and Wildlife Service has begun inspecting the 
products once again before leaving the country. The policy change ended 
a longtime exemption that urchins had received, an exemption that 
lobster and other shellfish continue to receive.
  Over 18 months ago, I started hearing from urchin processors in Maine 
who reported problems with this recent change. Sometimes the urchins 
sat in a hot warehouse in New York--usually at the JFK Airport--for 
days waiting for an inspection, possibly resulting in the loss of a 
very valuable and highly perishable product.
  Since these are such a perishable product, despite the harvesters' 
and processors' speedy work to get the urchins ready for shipment, once 
they reached the inspection point in New York, they often came to a 
halt.
  I immediately started working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to 
try and find a solution. Even though we haven't always seen eye to eye 
with the Fish and Wildlife Service, they have been very willing to hear 
our concerns, work with us on particular problems, and try to make 
things easier on our harvesters and processors.
  We had a very recent example. Last Friday afternoon, my office 
received a call from an urchin processor who had $50,000 worth of 
product soon to be sitting at the JFK Airport. The Fish and Wildlife 
Service had closed this Friday, meaning that the urchins would be left 
over a 3-day weekend. We were able to get it cleared, but it was a very 
close call. Stories like this make it clear that the only real solution 
is to get rid of this duplicative inspection, and this is what this 
bill would do.
  After working with the Fish and Wildlife Service, talking to urchin 
harvesters, and visiting a processing plant in my district, I firmly 
believe that these extra inspections are unnecessary. There is no 
reason why sea urchins should be treated differently than shellfish.
  These burdensome inspections create a great deal of risk for valuable 
exports and too much uncertainty for a job-creating industry. As 
communities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts deal with challenges to 
commercial fishing and working waterfronts, it is critical that 
Congress do everything it can to support successful industries like sea 
urchins in Maine or squid and cuttlefish in California, Rhode Island, 
and other States.
  I am very proud to have introduced this bipartisan legislation, and I 
encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this 
piece of legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4245, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to exempt 
exportation of certain echinoderms and mollusks from licensing 
requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.''.

                          ____________________