[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11972]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                THE TROUBLED STATE OF OUR WORLD'S OCEANS

  (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the troubled 
state of our world's oceans. Last month, I attended an ocean science 
summit in Monterey, California. Also there were State and Federal 
policymakers and scientists concerned about our oceans and the lack of 
attention our Federal Government has given them.
  This year's summit marked the 10-year anniversary of the Year of the 
Ocean and the oceans conference in Monterey attended by President 
Clinton and Vice President Gore. In the intervening 10 years, the 
Federal Government has done little to address the oceans' growing 
problems, ranging from overfishing to pollution to coastal development 
and global warming. California and Massachusetts have had to step into 
the breach, but problems as big as our oceans can't be addressed by a 
few States.
  Fortunately, there is a solution. Oceans 21, introduced by 
Representative Farr and moving through the Natural Resources Committee 
now, establishes a national oceans policy and a framework for national 
and regional management of our shared ocean resources.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to sponsor Oceans 21. Join us, and help 
provide stewardship for this vast resource and protect it for future 
generations.

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