[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S1805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-191. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Maine respectfully urging and requesting the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration take the 
     lives of the men and women of the Maine lobster industry into 
     account in the agency's decision making and understand that 
     the agency's proposed changes to the Atlantic Large Whale 
     Take Reduction Plan will not save one right whale in Maine 
     waters but will put many human lives in danger; to the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

                            Senate Paper 762

       We, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and 
     Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled 
     in the Second Regular Session, most respectfully present and 
     petition the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
     as follows:
       Whereas, the men and women who work in the Maine lobster 
     industry are constantly at risk of injury and loss of life; 
     and
       Whereas, the safety of these workers must be the primary 
     concern of all government agencies that regulate the ocean; 
     and
       Whereas, the Maine lobster industry has made many changes 
     to help protect the right whale; and
       Whereas, no right whales have been killed by Maine lobster 
     gear and deaths in 2019 were predominantly by ship strikes in 
     Canadian waters or in one instance due to Canadian fishing 
     gear entanglements; and
       Whereas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration has stated that right whales likely are not 
     traveling in the waters in which Maine lobster fishing 
     occurs; and
       Whereas, the proposal to modify the existing Atlantic Large 
     Whale Take Reduction Plan developed by the National Oceanic 
     and Atmospheric Administration will not save any right whales 
     in Maine waters but will put the lives of workers in the 
     Maine lobster industry at great risk; and
       Whereas, the lobster industry is one of Maine's core 
     traditional natural resource industries and has employed 
     generations of Maine's citizens; and
       Whereas, the lobster industry contributes $1.5 billion to 
     Maine's economy and entire communities depend upon the work 
     that the lobster industry provides; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and 
     request that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration take the lives of the men and women of the 
     Maine lobster industry into account in the agency's decision 
     making and understand that the agency's proposed changes to 
     the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan will not save 
     one right whale in Maine waters but will put many human lives 
     in danger: and be it further
       Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution, duly 
     authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to 
     the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United 
     States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the 
     Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to Dr. 
     Neil Jacobs, acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans 
     and Atmosphere, and to each Member of the Maine Congressional 
     Delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-192. A petition from a citizen of the State of Texas 
     relative to H.R. 5383 the ``New Way Forward Act''; to the 
     Committee on the Judiciary

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