[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18959]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I 
participated in a forum hosted by a Foundation created in the 1980s by 
Congress: the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, or NFWF. The forum 
was on the connection between agriculture and the Chesapeake Bay.
  The health of the bay is important in Pennsylvania's Fifth 
Congressional District, which I represent, since the streams and rivers 
in a large portion of the district drain into it. This is also a region 
which depends on agriculture, the Commonwealth's largest industry.
  Among the topics of discussion at the forum were the Chesapeake 
Stewardship grants, which are funded by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency and administered by the NFWF. This funding goes 
toward the restoration of streams which flow into the bay and to those 
that cut down on nutrient and sediment pollution.
  This fall, I joined the NFWF in touring several sites across 
Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District, which were all funded by 
these grant programs. These sites show the direct connection between 
agriculture and the health of the Chesapeake Bay, with all of them 
located on farmland. The projects range from those which keep animal 
waste out of waterways to flood control and stream bank restoration, 
all of which improve the overall health of local streams, local 
watersheds, and, ultimately, the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
  As chairman of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and 
Forestry, as well as a member of the House National Resource Committee, 
the health of our watersheds is critically important. Healthy 
watersheds are needed for the sustainability of both agriculture and 
the land.
  As I explained during the forum,
the commitment to agriculture and healthy watersheds continues through 
passage last year of a 5-year farm bill and the various conservation 
programs contained within title II of that bill.
  The tour of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation watershed 
projects, along with this recent forum, gave me the opportunity to hear 
firsthand from farmers, agricultural leaders, and those involved in the 
restoration of streams and rivers on what can be done here in 
Washington to help improve the quality of water in our local rivers, 
streams, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and the bay itself. I look 
forward to working with the agriculture community and many 
conservationists as we prepare for the next reauthorization of the farm 
bill.

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