[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 123 (Thursday, July 17, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4463]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2908. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2296, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2026 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place in title III, insert the
following:
SEC. 3__. WORKING GROUP ON MARINE BIOSECURITY AT JOINT BASE
PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII.
(a) In General.--On and after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall participate in good
faith with a working group on marine biosecurity at Joint
Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii (in this section referred to
as the ``working group'').
(b) Members.--The members of the working group shall
consist of representatives from the following:
(1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(2) The United States Geological Survey.
(3) The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
(4) The Hawaii Invasive Species Council.
(5) The University of Hawaii.
(6) The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.
(7) Williams College.
(8) Such additional entities as may prove necessary or
expedient, as determined by the Secretary of the Navy.
(c) Existing or New Entity.--The working group may be
either a newly-constituted entity or an existing entity with
substantially the same members.
(d) Memorandum of Agreement.--
(1) In general.--In order to facilitate cooperation among
the members of the working group, the Secretary of the Navy
shall seek to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the
Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
(2) Elements.--A memorandum of agreement entered into under
paragraph (1) shall contain, at a minimum, the commitment of
the Department of Defense--
(A) to work collaboratively and in good faith with all
members of the working group;
(B) to the eradication of invasive corals discovered at
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in 2020;
(C) to supporting the health of the coastal and marine
ecosystem of Hawaii; and
(D) to creating a mechanism for an independent third party,
approved by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural
Resources, to verify and, as warranted, oversee efforts by
the Department of Defense to eradicate invasive corals from
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
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