Steven LaTourette

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. It's a good amendment. I hope we can all vote for it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I would ask the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Cummings, do you want to say anything about the amendment? I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the gentleman. I had intended to claim the time in opposition, even though I am not opposed to the amendment. I would indicate to the chairman and the sponsors of the amendment that we are prepared to accept the amendment. I do have some concerns about the scope of the alleged incidents that will be reported via the Web site and the manner in which it will be presented, but I pledge to work with the amendment's sponsors as we move this bill to conference to facilitate those.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I would advise the distinguished chairman, I have no other speakers and am prepared to yield back whenever you are finished.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, it's my understanding that it is current practice for seamen on passenger vessels to be paid in cash. Section 405 authorizes the deposit of their pay into certain approved accounts. The section also requires that those funds be available for withdrawal. I understand that, as a practical matter, many seamen want to make sure that they can make those withdrawals in cash. Would the chairman and the chairman of the subcommittee be willing to work with us in conference to clarify the amounts that can be withdrawn from those in cash up to the amount of a seaman's pay?

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the Chair. The second colloquy, if you'd be kind enough to engage in a colloquy relative to the delegation of certain functions of the Coast Guard to classification societies.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, the unnumbered section in your amendment that replaces section 318 as reported by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee adds a new subsection, subsection (d), to section 3316 of title 46 of the United States Code. Under paragraph (2) the Secretary may delegate the Coast Guard's authority to a foreign classification society ``to the extent that'' the government of the society's home country, one, accepts plan review, inspections, or examinations conducted by ABS, and, two, provides to ABS equivalent access to inspect, certify, and provide related services to offshore facilities under that country's jurisdiction. I understand that some foreign countries do not use a delegation system but instead accept plan reviews, inspections, or examinations performed by classification societies as part of a comprehensive operating plan submitted by the offshore leaseholder. Concerns have been raised that the Secretary may construe acceptance of the ABS plan reviews, inspections, or examinations as part of those comprehensive plans to be something less than full acceptance of plan review, inspections, or examinations in the United States, thus limiting the work that classification societies headquartered in those companies could perform in the United States and limiting the work that ABS can perform in foreign offshore markets. Would the Chair be willing to work in conference to clarify what constitutes fair and full access by ABS to work in foreign offshore markets and by foreign classification societies headquartered in countries which do not use delegation schemes to work domestic offshore markets?

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, at this time, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to a gentleman I mentioned in my opening remarks, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), who has been a true leader in the House of Representatives on this issue of shoreside and waterside security for LNG facilities.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I would be happy to yield 15 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank both chairmen and want to again congratulate Mr. McNerney on his amendment. I would yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the Chair. At this time--if the gentleman is reserving his 2\1/2\ minutes--it's my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus). (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the Chair. Mr. Chairman, at this time I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I want to congratulate Mr. Bilirakis on this amendment, and we all had the privilege of serving with his dad, Mike, and he's a ``Gus'' off the old block, and he's doing a fine job not only in this amendment but also the Waterway Watch program. We're prepared to accept the amendment. The Coast Guard has operated a pilot program in Mona Pass, Puerto Rico. It has been extremely successful. We're aware that the Coast Guard intends to expand the program in the Caribbean Basin to make it a permanent program. His amendment would accomplish these goals. For that reason, I support the amendment and congratulate Mr. Bilirakis.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, to close the debate on our side, and I hope that Homeland Security, if they don't use all their time, can give him more time, I yield 30 seconds to a distinguished member of the full committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers).

Mr. LaTOURETTE. May I ask--I know the chairman has 2\1/2\ minutes-- how much time do we have?

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I thank the chairman very much for yielding. Madam Chairman, we have no objection to the amendment and are pleased to accept it. I want to congratulate Mr. Bishop, a valued member of the committee and the subcommittee. This will require the Coast Guard to report on the use and qualification of State and local officials used in a security capacities at LNG facilities. I would just remark parenthetically that I assume that the chairman was able to close because he is much more revered in the institution than I am, and I accept that and I also agree with that assessment.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Then I am happy to yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. I just want to be clear as we move forward, Madam Chairman. This has happened a couple of times. And I am not questioning the ruling of the Chair, but a couple of times, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Oberstar, has risen to claim time in opposition without being opposed to the amendment and has claimed the right to close, and I just want to make sure we're all squared away.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. No. You're doing a great job and making great rulings. I just want to be clear as we move forward, because we have about six more amendments. It is my understanding that the chairman closed because he was defending the position of the committee, which I'm doing. If that's not the ruling of the Chair, I'm happy to live with the ruling of the excellent Chair, but I just want to make sure we're squared away. But in the meantime, I'm yielding back my time.

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Reclaiming my time for a minute, it is my understanding that the gentleman from Georgia is going to ask unanimous consent to withdraw his amendment, and I want to express my appreciation because the amendment, from my perspective, is problematic. We do concur in the concerns that have been expressed in the colloquy between the chairman and Mr. Broun, and I want to congratulate Dr. Broun as another new Member of the House who has really stepped up to the plate and brought important issues before this body. I would tell the gentleman that we did have some pretty illuminating hearings on the Administrative Law Judge, and the current Acting Chairman and I both served as prosecuting attorneys, she was also a judge, and I would tell you that my experience, and I think she would echo this, is that people can accept when they come into a forum if they lose, as long as they believe that they have lost fairly. The testimony that we received was that there are a number of people that don't have that feeling going in. It was our hope by making this small adjustment that even when they are ruled against, they will say, I got my day in court. That was the objective. I do appreciate the gentleman's concern. I promise him that we will continue to work on it as it goes to conference. I would be happy to yield once again to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. LaTOURETTE

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, at this time it's my privilege to yield such time as he may consume to the ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica).

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2830, and I'll tell you why in just a second, but just a couple of editorial notes. One is that it is my belief that this Coast Guard reauthorization is brought to the floor in the best traditions of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. And I want to commend the ranking member of our full committee, Mr. Mica, for his diligence and work, and also for expressing his remaining concerns. I also want to express my appreciation to the chairman of our subcommittee, Mr. Cummings, who I've had the pleasure now of working with about a year and a half, and I will tell you there is no Member that is more dedicated to not only the mission of the Coast Guard, but the safety of those that they entrust with supervising. It is a pleasure to serve in the post of ranking member with Mr. Cummings as the chairman. And, also, a special affection for the chairman of the full committee. I made the observation at the beginning of this Congress, and I'll repeat it again today, that obviously, as a Republican, none of us were excited about being thrust after 12 years from the majority party to the minority party, but if there was to be a Democratic Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, there is no one more deserving, in my opinion, perhaps in the history of the institution, than the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar). He really takes our committee, no matter what the issue, above partisanship to the goals of the Transportation Committee, and that is, safeguarding our waterways and building America. And, lastly, while I'm saying nice things about people, I am pleased, Mr. Chairman, that the Speaker of the House, Mrs. Pelosi, has installed you as the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole for the consideration of this piece of legislation. I rise in strong support of this bill. And I am especially proud of the ballast water provisions and the marine safety provisions located within the bill. This bill will establish national standards requiring the treatment of ballast water to minimize the introduction of invasive species into the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters. The bill will build on a lot of work that has already been done. Those of us that are from the Great Lakes know very well the importance of this issue. I am disappointed that we'll have a colloquy later with the chairman of the full committee relative to an amendment that was offered at the Rules Committee that would protect millions of recreational boaters from falling under a discharge permitting program designed for large oceangoing vessels. In the absence of this language, come September recreational voters will be facing fines of up to $32,500 a day for violations of program rules. For more than 30 years, Mr. Chairman, both recreational and commercial vehicles were exempted from these programs, and I hope that the majority will join us to develop language addressing these understandings. As well, when we get to the amendment portion of the bill, I have an amendment that I'm offering with Mr. Boustany of Louisiana that addresses some of the concerns raised by the ranking member, Mr. Mica, relative to waterside security for liquefied natural gas facilities. Again, I want to thank the Chair of the subcommittee and the full committee for working with us. I want to thank Mr. Boustany for his dogged work to make sure that we come up with a resolution that not only fits with the reality of assets that are available, builds on a long tradition that we established in 2005, but also permits us to move forward with the goal of attaining cheaper energy for Americans through the form of natural gas. With that, Mr. Chairman, I thank the Chair very much and would reserve the balance of my time.