[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3352-H3353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SAVE OUR SHRIMPERS ACT

  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 2071) to prohibit Federal funds from being made 
available to international financial institutions for the purposes of 
financing foreign shrimp farms, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2071

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Save Our Shrimpers Act''.

     SEC. 2. VOICE AND VOTE REQUIREMENT.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
     instruct the United States Executive Director at each 
     international financial institution (as defined in section 
     1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act) 
     to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose any 
     financial assistance by such institution for any project to 
     support shrimp farming, shrimp processing, or the export of 
     shrimp in a borrowing country.
       (b) Waiver Authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury may 
     waive subsection (a) with respect to a project upon notifying 
     the Congress that the waiver is in the national interest of 
     the United States.
       (c) Expiration.--Subsection (a) shall have no force or 
     effect after the end of the 7-year period beginning on the 
     date of enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Hill) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arkansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my friend, Mr. Nehls', 
bill, the Save Our Shrimpers Act.
  Across our coastlines, our communities believe it is crucial that we 
protect our domestic shrimping industry and the hardworking men and 
women who keep it alive every day, day in and day out.
  For far too long, U.S. shrimpers along the Gulf and other coastal 
communities across our country have been put in a serious disadvantage 
by a wave of cheap, imported shrimp.
  As the largest shareholder of multilateral lenders like the World 
Bank, the United States must ensure that these institutions are not 
financing competing shrimp producers with our domestic family growers. 
Representative Nehls' bipartisan bill addresses this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, it requires U.S. representatives at the international 
financial institutions to oppose financing activities related to shrimp 
farming, shrimp processing, or the export of shrimp from a foreign 
country.
  I thank Mr. Nehls for his leadership on this important issue and for 
helping ensure that our international financing policy prioritizes a 
level playing field for our shrimp producers here at home.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2071, the Save Our Shrimpers 
Act. Communities in places like Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Georgia 
have deep, historic connections to the shrimping industry. They have 
raised concerns that foreign shrimping projects funded by international 
financial institutions, that is IFIs, are helping to dramatically 
increase the farmed shrimp supply, causing a glut that is driving down 
the price of shrimp and harming American business.
  This bill would direct the United States Government to oppose 
financial assistance by the World Bank and other international 
financial institutions to projects that support foreign shrimp farming, 
shrimp processing, or the export of shrimp.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage Members to support this bill, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Nehls), who is the chairman of the T&I Subcommittee on 
Aviation, and who is the author of the bill we have before us this 
afternoon.

                              {time}  1510

  Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2071, the 
Save Our Shrimpers Act.
  For far too long, hardworking American shrimpers have been devastated 
by the flood of foreign shrimp imports entering our markets, driving 
down the prices, undermining fair competition, and forcing generation 
after generation of fishing families out of business.
  For decades, billions of dollars tied to international development 
financing have helped support foreign shrimp production overseas.
  According to publicly available data from the Department of the 
Treasury, U.S. executive directors at international financial 
institutions have voted in favor of nearly 89 percent of multilateral 
shrimp and aquacultural projects over the last 30 years. Think about 
that--89 percent.
  American taxpayer dollars have effectively helped finance foreign 
shrimp industries while our own shrimpers are being forced to compete 
against foreign producers benefiting from the subsidies, unfair trade 
practices, and lower label and environmental standards, allowing 
imported shrimp to be sold below the cost of production. It is 
unacceptable.
  Meanwhile, the men and women from our Gulf Coast and coastal 
communities wake up before dawn and work long hours in dangerous 
conditions to help feed this country. They deserve a level playing 
field, not a Federal Government helping bankroll their foreign 
competition.
  The Save Our Shrimpers Act directs U.S. representatives at 
international financial institutions to use the voice and vote of the 
United States to oppose projects that finance foreign shrimp farming, 
shrimp processing, or shrimp exports overseas.
  The Save Our Shrimpers Act stands up for American jobs, American 
seafood producers, and the coastal communities that depend on the 
shrimping industry to survive.

[[Page H3353]]

  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand up for our shrimpers and 
protect the American industry, and I ask them to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 
2071.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield 
myself the balance of my time to close.
  Mr. Speaker, I am supportive of American workers, including the 
shrimpers' communities. For that reason, I recommend that my colleagues 
support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I think Mr. Nehls has done good work on behalf of our 
hardworking men and women in the shrimping industry, particularly in 
his native Gulf Coast, who get up at the crack of dawn every day to 
make a living and serve a delicious product to Americans and neighbors 
alike.
  Mr. Speaker, I witnessed something so similar 25 years ago in the 
Mississippi Delta when the Federal Government's policy was to subsidize 
importation of catfish from Vietnam. It literally put hundreds of 
family farms in Mississippi and Arkansas out of business and bankrupted 
the industry because we facilitated--through our trade policy, through 
our international financial institutions policy, through our import 
policy--a decision that was in contrast to the very policies of USDA, 
which were to increase family farms and increase farms diversifying 
their crop from row crop to domestically produced farm-raised catfish. 
These policies collided, Mr. Speaker.
  I think what the gentleman from Texas is arguing is let's have common 
sense in our policy that supports our producers and our family shrimp 
growers, support them and put them first in this channel of providing 
high-quality seafood to the American consumer.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I thank the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Nehls) for this bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on both sides of 
the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 2071, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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