S.Amdt. 1023

1. Adds SEC. 12213. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FISHERY DISASTER ASSISTANCE at the end of subtitle C of title XII

   Adds a section

   In S. 954 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2019.

   Inserted: SEC. 12213. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON FISHERY DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) Commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing represents the livelihood of many hard-working people in the United States and, in 2011, fisheries supported more than 1,200,000 jobs in the United States.

   Inserted: (2) Seafood represents an important source of high quality, nutritious food for the people of the United States, who consumed 15 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2011 on average per capita.

   Inserted: (3) Commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing is an integral part of the economic foundation for the coastal communities of the United States.

   Inserted: (4) Despite adhering to strict catch limits, many fishermen and historic fishing communities currently face extreme hardship as a result of dramatic declines in stocks due to natural disasters and undetermined causes.

   Inserted: (5) In 2012, using authority under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), the Secretary of Commerce declared fishery disasters with respect to the following:

   Inserted: (A) Mississippi oyster and blue crab, in response to flooding that occurred in 2011, damage from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, and Hurricane Katrina.

   Inserted: (B) Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishery, for Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut.

   Inserted: (C) Alaska Chinook salmon, for Chinook salmon fisheries in the Yukon River, Kuskokwin River, and Cook Inlet.

   Inserted: (D) New Jersey and New York, in response to Hurricane Sandy.

   Inserted: (E) American Samoa, for bottomfish.

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   Inserted: (6) Whenever a disaster has been declared by the Federal Government, Congress has traditionally provided funding to assist those affected.

   Inserted: (7) Since 1994, Federal fishery failures have been declared on 29 occasions and nearly $827,000,000 in Federal funding has been provided for fishery disaster relief.

   Inserted: (8) The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (division A of Public Law 113-2; 127 Stat. 4), did not include the funding for all fishery disasters declared in 2012 that was included in the Senate bill and those fisheries continue to face dire economic straits.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

   Inserted: (1) it is important to support the commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishermen of the United States, who risk their lives to put food on the tables of the people of the United States and to support their communities;

   Inserted: (2) it is in the national interest to ensure that the important and storied United States fishing industry survives and thrives well into the future; and

   Inserted: (3) funds should be provided, as soon as possible, for the fishery disasters declared by the Secretary of Commerce in 2012 and any subsequent fishery disaster declarations.

   Original wording

   At the end of subtitle C of title XII, add the following:

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As printed