[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17396-17397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       INTRODUCTION OF OCEANS 21

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, today signals the beginning of a new era in 
the protection and management of this Nation's largest public trust 
resource: our oceans. Along with the other bi-partisan co-chairs of the 
House Oceans Caucus, Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania, Tom Allen of Maine, 
and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, I introduced OCEANS 21, a 
comprehensive oceans policy bill that answers the calls of the Pew 
Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
  Our bill offers a comprehensive legislative solution to all of the 
crises documented in both oceans reports by establishing a strong 
national oceans policy that protects, maintains, and restores the 
health of marine ecosystems. This national policy will secure, for 
present and future generations, the full range of benefits of healthy 
marine ecosystems--a responsibility that I take quite seriously in my 
job of representing California's central coast, home to the Nation's 
largest national marine sanctuary.
  The importance of this policy cannot be overstated, as we all depend 
on our oceans and coasts, from the person who lives off the water to 
the person who visits the ocean once in a lifetime. The oceans provide 
food, jobs, vacation spots, as well as opportunities for scientific 
inquiry, including medical discovery, and personal reflection. Despite 
our inability to measure the many non-market values associated with our 
oceans and coasts, we are able to quantify some of the benefits they 
provide. For example, over a trillion dollars is added to our economy 
each year by ocean and coastal economies. This is a huge economic 
contribution to our gross domestic product, a contribution that must be 
protected so the returns keep coming. Our bill explicitly protects 
these returns.

[[Page 17397]]

  Mr. Speaker, to implement the national oceans policy set forth in 
OCEANS 21, we provide four national standards which covered actions, 
defined as those carried out by the Federal Government or paid for in 
part by Federal funds, must be consistent with. These standards include 
a precautionary approach and a reversal of the burden of proof. These 
cornerstones of OCEANS 21 are founded on the opinions of many marine 
scientists who have seen the health of marine ecosystems degrade over 
the past years. In fact, many scientists have been encouraging a 
restructuring of our ocean policy to reflect a precautionary approach 
and a reversal of the burden of proof for many years. For example, in a 
1998 Science article, Paul Dayton, a preeminent marine scientist, 
asserted, ``If society's environmental needs are to be protected so 
that future generations can also enjoy, learn, and profit from marine 
ecosystems, this legal burden of proof must be applied to our marine 
resources so that those hoping to exploit them must demonstrate no 
ecologically significant long-term changes.'' Today, I am proud to 
report back to the scientists, those who know our oceans better than 
most, that members of Congress have heard their calls and have 
responded.
  As asserted in both the Pew and U.S. Commission Reports, our 
government needs a way to promote greater coordination among federal 
agencies whose actions may affect the oceans. Our bill responds to this 
issue by establishing a National Oceans Council comprised of 
secretaries of departments and heads of independent agencies. OCEANS 21 
recommends that this Council be chaired by a National Oceans Advisor to 
the President. We recognized early on in our House Oceans Caucus 
leadership discussions that the best way to improve federal stewardship 
of our ocean resources was to offer a mechanism for bringing federal 
agencies together and to have an advisor to the President who can 
articulate the importance of the oceans. The National Oceans Council 
and the National Oceans Advisor are the solutions we present.
  One of the biggest advances in our understanding of the oceans to 
occur since our last national review of ocean policy over 30 years ago 
is that the natural world functions as ecosystems, with each species 
intricately connected to the other parts that make up the whole. Both 
the Pew and the U.S. Commission Reports clearly state that we must 
adopt a new policy framework that is based on the concept of ``the 
whole,'' an ecosystem-based approach, and move away from our archaic 
approach based on political boundaries. This new ecosystem-based 
management approach will not be as easy as our previous approaches, but 
we must dedicate ourselves to making it a reality.
  We have responded to the call for ecosystem-based management by 
including within OCEANS 21 a provision for Regional Ocean Councils, 
whose primary responsibility is to do ecosystem planning. We do 
comprehensive land use planning, so why not do comprehensive ocean 
planning? With a national ocean policy explicitly written to maintain 
healthy ocean ecosystems and with Regional Ocean Councils charged with 
developing and implementing regional ocean ecosystem plans, we can turn 
back the tide of irresponsible ocean management.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill also provides an ``Organic Act'' for the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)--an agency whose 
existence today is only reflected in an Executive Order. Our bill 
establishes NOAA in statute. However, unlike some of the other 
proposals currently being considered, we do not simply codify the 
status quo. This is because we recognize the status quo has failed and, 
if long-term ecological sustainability is one of our goals, then we can 
no longer consider our ocean resources in a piecemeal fashion. OCEANS 
21, therefore, restructures NOAA to better reflect the importance of 
ecosystem approaches.
  Setting the stage for a long-term solution to the best possible 
management of our ocean resources, we also call for the President to 
submit recommendations for reorganizing Federal departments to 
establish a Department of Natural Resources. This way, all of our 
valuable natural resources can be managed together--reflecting our full 
acknowledgement of the connections between all parts of the natural 
world, from the oceans to the land to the air.
  In addition to addressing the problems of oceans governance, OCEANS 
21 also addresses the need for increased investments in marine science 
research, including ocean exploration, and marine education.
  Mr. Speaker, to address the Pew and U.S. Commission recommendations 
surrounding the ocean science, our bill calls for a national strategy 
on ocean and coastal science and authorizes funding for marine 
ecosystems research. OCEANS 21 also creates a National Oceans Council 
Subcommittee to focus Federal investments on scientific areas 
especially requiring attention.
  One of the most exciting aspects of OCEANS 21 is that it will help to 
instill a new marine stewardship ethic in all people--from first-
graders learning how to read to graduate students investigating 
challenging scientific processes. The bill does this is in many ways: 
by explicitly describing education as one of NOAA's missions; by 
creating an interagency ocean science and coastal education program; by 
establishing an ocean science and technology scholarship program; and 
by creating a mass media campaign on how we are all dependent on 
healthy and productive oceans.
  Mr. Speaker, OCEANS 21 is a comprehensive response to two 
comprehensive ocean reports that both deliver the same sad message: our 
oceans are in peril and we must act now. It is up to each of us to not 
let this unprecedented, once-in-a-generation opportunity pass us by. 
With the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and The Pew Oceans Commission 
Reports both calling for immediate action to protect the oceans, this 
Congress has a responsibility to the American public to pass 
legislation that ensures future generations have the opportunity to 
benefit from healthy oceans. Since coming to Congress in 1993, I have 
worked hard to raise awareness of the importance of our oceans and 
today, my dedication to protecting this Country's largest public trust 
resource is reflected in the introduction of OCEANS 21. I have worked 
with the bi-partisan cochairs of the House Oceans Caucus to introduce a 
bill that we all support and this bipartisan effort should be 
celebrated.
  The Bush Administration has a prime opportunity to take the steps 
necessary to instill a new ocean ethic in our government. Action by 
this Administration could very well save our oceans. The time for 
leadership is now. I am dedicated to providing it in Congress, and I 
hope the President will provide it in the White House.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to dedicate themselves to 
shaping a better future for our oceans by supporting the House Oceans 
Caucus Leadership's ocean policy bill. Our bill will not only bring 
U.S. ocean policy into the 21st century, it will set the tone for a 
future in which our oceans remain vital components of our economy, our 
communities, and our lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to close with a quote from the U.S. 
Commission Report that encapsulates my thoughts on the urgency of 
considering OCEANS 21 this session:
  ``The responsibility of our generation is to reclaim and renew the 
oceans for ourselves, for our children, and--if we do the job right--
for those whose footprints will mark the sands of beaches from Maine to 
Hawaii long after ours have washed away.''

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