Don Sherwood

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 148) to require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to provide assistance in the conservation of neotropical migratory birds, as amended.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act. Neotropical migrants are birds that travel across international borders and depend upon thousands of miles of suitable habitat. Each autumn some 5 billion birds from 500 species migrate between their breeding grounds in North America and their tropical homes in the Caribbean and Latin America. Regrettably, the population of many Neotropical migratory bird species has declined to dangerously low levels. There are many reasons for this population collapse, including hazards along migratory routes, pesticide use, and loss of essential habitat. While S. 148 will not solve all the problems facing neotropical migratory birds, it is a positive step. Under this bill, we would create a neotropical migratory bird conservation account. This account would be used to finance worthwhile conservation projects approved by the Secretary of the Interior. I urge an ``aye'' vote on S. 148. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on S.148, the Senate bill now under consideration.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4408) to reauthorize the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, as amended.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we are considering H.R. 4408, a bill proposed by my colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton), to reauthorize the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act. Striped bass are an important recreational and commercial resource on the East Coast. The original Striped Bass Conservation Act was enacted in 1984. The act provides a means to enforce a single interstate management plan. H.R. 4408 is a simple bill to reauthorize the Striped Bass Act. The bill provides funding for striped bass research that will be carried out through the National Marine Fisheries Service. H.R. 4408 authorizes a total of $4.5 million over 3 years. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4408 is noncontroversial and is supported by the administration. I urge an ``aye'' vote on this important conservation measure. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Since the early 1990s, automobile and truck traffic at the United States port of entry in Yuma County, Arizona, has exceeded the capacity of the existing port of entry. The current port is located directly in the heart of the City of San Luis, just south of downtown Yuma. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3023 was introduced on October 5, 1999, by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Pastor) to improve the United States Port of Entry in Yuma County. This bill would convey to an organization known as the Greater Yuma Port Authority an area of land currently controlled by the Bureau of Reclamation consisting of approximately 330 acres just east of the city of San Luis for the purpose of the construction of a commercial Port of Entry. This land would be conveyed to the Greater Yuma Port Authority at fair market value. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3023 and H.R. 4408.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong disapproval of this amendment. I think we have heard a great deal tonight. We have heard about the President's budget, and it is obvious that that budget does not understand or does not want to realize the benefits of timber management. The zero cut philosophy will get us somewhere where we do not want to be. Our timber has been managed for hundred of years by wildfire. We have suppressed those wildfires in this century pretty successfully, so now we have a ladder of trash, we have a very unhealthy forest and it is susceptible to cataclysmic fire. We saw that in New Mexico. If the forest is not going to be treated with wildfire, and we do not want to do that, it is dangerous, it has to be treated somehow. The underbrush has to be removed. There has to be harvesting. This resource has to be managed. Our forests are one of the greatest resources that have been left to this country, and we need to use our best judgment to manage them. This amendment does not use good judgment. It pulls $14 million away from these very sound programs to manage our forest resource. As we manage that resource, as has been said earlier this evening, we will provide fish and wildlife habitat. Every time there is a cataclysmic fire, it destroys that fish and wildlife habitat and it destroys it for two or three generations. So by properly using these stewardship cuts to improve our forest stand, we will get the economic benefit of the removed trees. We will have a safer stand. It will not be as susceptible to fire. It will grow more rapidly. It will absorb more carbon dioxide. That is a win/win. Our chairman has offered to work with the other side on the budget for fish and wildlife. Let us stop trying to take a foolish cut out of the forest management program.

Mr. SHERWOOD. I yield to the gentleman from Oregon.

Mr. SHERWOOD. I could not disagree more. The $600 million the gentleman is talking about is for fire suppression. This is fire prevention. $14 million, if it prevents a fire, we will not have to spend that other money. That is good management. Fire cannot be taken off the table here because fire is a result of a poorly managed forest, and this is money to properly manage our forests.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3535) to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to eliminate the wasteful and unsportsmanlike practice of shark finning, as amended.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3535.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker I rise in support of H.R. 3535, the Shark Finning Prohibition Act, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham). This legislation amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to prohibit the removal of shark fins, including the tail, and then discard the carcass into the sea; to prohibit having the custody, control, or possession of any such fin aboard a fishing vessel without the corresponding carcass; and to prohibit the landing of such fins without the corresponding carcass. The practice of shark finning is wasteful and wrong. In addition, the practice of shark finning is inconsistent with rules governing the harvest of sharks on the East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Caribbean. This legislation will make shark finning illegal in all U.S. waters. The Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans reported H.R. 3535 by voice vote with one amendment on May 18, 2000. The full Committee on Resources then reported the bill without amendment by voice vote on May 24. This is a noncontroversial bill that should be supported by all Members. Members may remember that the House reported a nonbinding resolution on this issue in October of last year which expresses the sense of Congress that the practice of shark finning is a wasteful and unsportsmanlike practice that could lead to overfishing of shark resources. The resolution further encouraged Federal and State fishery managers to promptly and permanently end the practice of shark finning in all Federal and State waters in the Pacific. Regrettably, this has not occurred; and this legislation is, therefore, necessary. I urge an aye vote on this important conservation legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham). (Mr. CUNNINGHAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks, and include extraneous material.)

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 291) to convey certain real property within the Carlsbad Project in New Mexico to the Carlsbad Irrigation District.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 291.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 356) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain works, facilities, and titles of the Gila Project, and designated lands within or adjacent to the Gila Project, to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, and for other purposes.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 356.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4435) to clarify certain boundaries on the map relating to Unit NC01 of the Coastal Barrier Resources System, as amended.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4435.

Mr. SHERWOOD

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3176) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine ways of restoring the natural wetlands conditions in the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii.

Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3176.