National Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Act of 2004

Mr. Speaker, again, I rise in support of H.R. 2584, a bill I introduced to assist our friends from Utrok Atoll as they continue efforts to resettle and rehabilitate their islands as a result of the effects of the United States nuclear testing in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

At this time, I would like to thank Chairman Richard Pombo and Ranking Member Nick Rahall of the Resources Committee for their continued support of Pacific Island issues. I would also like to thank my distinguished colleagues and co-sponsors--Congressmen Anibal Acevedo-Vila, Dan Burton, John Doolittle, Elton Gallegly, Jeff Flake, and Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo.

I would also like to thank members of the Senate for voting in favor of this legislation. The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to convey a decommissioned, operable NOAA vessel to the Government of Utrok. The vessel will be used to provide support for radiological monitoring, rehabilitation and resettlement of Utrok, an atoll that is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

During the 1940s and 50s, many of the Marshall Island atolls were devastated by the effects of U.S. nuclear testing activities. From 1946 to 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, representing nearly 80 percent of all atmospheric tests ever conducted by the United States. If one were to calculate the net yield of these tests, it would be equivalent to the detonation of 1.7 Hiroshima bombs every day for 12 years.

On March 1, 1954, at 6:45 a.m. at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the United States detonated the Bravo shot, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Acknowledged as the greatest nuclear explosion ever detonated, the Bravo test vaporized 6 islands and created a mushroom cloud 25 miles in diameter.

Residents of Utrok atoll were forced to evacuate 72 hours after the miscalculated Bravo shot. Two months later, the U.S. assured the people of Utrok that it was safe to return home. The U.S. now acknowledges that it was a grave mistake to return the people to Utrok only 2 months after the detonation of Bravo.

Utrok residents have since suffered severe health problems and genetic anomalies. Today, the people of Utrok are seeking to rehabilitate their home island so that it is a safe place to live. Last year, a comprehensive scientific report recommended a potassium fertilizer treatment to accompany the ongoing resettlement process on Utrok, a treatment which would suppress the remaining radioactive Cesium-137 in the soil and prevent its further uptake in the food supply.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Utrok that committed the DOE to build a Whole Body Counting (WBC) facility in order to monitor radioactivity levels in the people of Utrok. This new facility is located about 265 miles away in Majuro and will be used to ensure that the potassium fertilizer regime is effective and the administration of the fertilizer treatment is done properly.

However, Utrok residents are responsible for their own transportation to Majuro. Transportation by plane is expensive and available only once per week. Air service is also unreliable as the Utrok runway is in disrepair and the airline often declines to land. Travel by commercial ships, although less expensive, is infrequent.

One solution to help facilitate transport between Utrok and Majuro is to transfer a decommissioned NOAA vessel to the Utrok Atoll Local Government. In addition to transport of Utrok residents to the WBC facility, the vessel will be used for moving several tons of potassium fertilizer, transporting equipment and materials for radiological remediation, and transporting USDA food supplies. Because of the Cesium-137 contamination in locally grown food, at least 50 percent of the diet of Utrok residents must be imported to limit the risk of radiological poisoning.

The Utrok Atoll Local Government fully supports this measure and adopted a resolution (022-03) on July 4th 2003 stating that the NOAA vessel transfer would be ``one of the crucial needs that will fully support our future goals to develop, rehabilitate and resettle the atoll after the aftermath of the Bravo fallout.'' The Utrok Government also expects the ship to be available for use by other atolls for their respective communities, who will help pay for the ongoing maintenance of the vessel.

As the Ranking Member of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, I am hopeful that this bill will remind Congress of our ongoing responsibility to the people of RMI for the mistakes the United States made regarding its nuclear testing activities in the Asia Pacific region. Once again, I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for their support and I urge final passage of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 2584) to provide for the conveyance to the Utrok Atoll local government of a decommissioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 2584 passed the House on November 11, 2003, by voice vote. The bill, as passed by the House, included a number of important provisions including the transfer of a decommissioned NOAA vessel to the local government of the Utrok Atoll, the reauthorization of the Yukon River Salmon Act of 2000, the reauthorization of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967, and a provision to correct and ratify certain promotions within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps.

The Senate has made several additions to the legislation which make it a stronger conservation measure. These additions include language to implement the Pacific Albacore Tuna Treaty, a measure which will help ensure the sustainable conservation and management of the albacore tuna fishery shared by the United States and Canada; and language to allow certain U.S. fishing vessels access to South Pacific tuna stocks consistent with revisions to the 1988 South Pacific Tuna

Treaty. The bill was further amended to strike a provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, which would have delayed the implementation of important conservation and management measures in the Northeast multispecies fishery management plan. This provision is important to the continued rebuilding process for New England groundfish stocks and to meet court-ordered timetables.

Finally, the amendments include a requirement that a plan for the use of the decommissioned vessel be submitted to Congress by the local government of the Utrok Atoll in consultation with the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

I urge Members to support these important provisions by voting ``aye'' on the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to thank the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), and the staff on both sides of the aisle for helping to bring this measure to the floor. I hope for a unanimous vote later on this afternoon.

Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an exchange of letters between the chairman of the Committee on Science and the chairman of the Committee on Resources regarding this legislation.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Science,

Washington, DC, March 26, 2004.

Hon. Richard W. Pombo,

Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives,

Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I understand that the House plans to

take up H.R. 2584 as amended by the Senate. Thank you for

your support in having the Committee on Science added to the

list of Committees to which the Utrok Atoll local government

must report after receipt and use of the decommissioned

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship.

The Committee on Science supports passage of this bill as

amended, but wishes to clarify the Committee's jurisdiction

over the NOAA Corps. Based on conversations with the Office

of the Parliamentarian, the Committee on Science understands

it would receive a sequential referral of legislation

involving the NOAA Corps.

Recognizing your wish that the House of Representatives

consider this bill as soon as possible, I will not exercise

the Committee's right to a sequential referral of H.R. 2584

based on the Committee's jurisdiction over the NOAA Corps.

This decision to forgo a sequential referral does not waive

the Committee's future jurisdiction over the NOAA Corps.

I ask that you include our exchange of letters on this

matter in Congressional Record during floor consideration of

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2408) to amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to reauthorize volunteer programs and community partnerships for national wildlife refuges, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 2408.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced the bill, H.R. 2408, to reauthorize the National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer and Community Partnership Act, which I authored in 1998.

There is no question that volunteers play an invaluable role in the successful operation of hundreds of National Wildlife Refuges throughout the United States. Since 1982, the number of refuge volunteers has grown from about 4,200 individuals to over 39,000 people. In the past year alone, volunteers have contributed over 1.4 million man-hours of their own time to the refuge system. From operating a backhoe, assisting in the banding of birds or providing education to the public, to many other functions, volunteers can do it all.

At the hearing of the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans held in June of this year, significant support for the volunteer program was very evident. A number of suggestions were made to improve the existing 1998 landmark law, and at the subcommittee markup these suggestions were incorporated into the bill. Included in these changes is the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements outside the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreements Act of 1977 with academic institutions, State and local agencies, and partner organizations, like the ``Friends'' groups that exist at many refuges. The Cooperative Agreement Act has been a hindrance to the Secretary in entering into these agreements. H.R. 2408 would clarify that Congress intended to give the Secretary the same flexibility that the Secretary has to enter into these agreements under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

I urge all Members to support the Refuge Volunteer Program by voting yes on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from Maryland for his hard work and his leadership on this bill.

H.R. 2584 is a noncontroversial piece of legislation previously passed by the House on November 21, 2003, that would convey a decommissioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, research vessel, to the local government of Utrok Atoll located in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The conveyance of this vessel will allow more convenient transportation for the residents of Utrok Atoll who have to make a 265-mile trip to the neighboring island of Majuro to receive testing and critical medical treatments as a result of the U.S. nuclear testing program we conducted in the Northern Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.

I commend the Delegate from American Samoa for introducing this legislation to help alleviate the burden shared by the residents of this very remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

H.R. 2584 also contains an important provision to address procedural lapses in promotions and appointments within NOAA's commissioned officer corps. It is important not to disrupt the NOAA corps chain of command while our Nation is at war against terrorism. This provision should prevent any future operational or command dysfunctions from arising, and we should act expeditiously to pass it.

This legislation as amended by the other body also contains provisions passed last year by the House in H.R. 2408 to reauthorize the Fishermen's Protective Act and the Yukon River Salmon Act, and two amendments to reauthorize and clarify fisheries management agreements concerning tuna in the Pacific Ocean. None of these are controversial.

I urge Members on both sides to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. KILDEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, as noted by the previous speaker, H.R. 2408 is noncontroversial legislation that would reauthorize the existing authority that promotes volunteer programs and community partnerships across our National Wildlife Refuge System.

Volunteers provide truly indispensable hours of service to augment the yeoman labor of our Federal resource managers, rangers, and biologists stretched thin by the day-to-day demands of managing 98 million acres of fish and wildlife habitat. Congress should do all that it can to encourage the expansion of volunteer opportunities at our National Wildlife Refuges.

I commend the act's author and the bill's sponsor, my good friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton), for his continued steadfast leadership in promoting our refuges as places for both people to enjoy and wildlife to have a proper habitat.

I also congratulate the chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest), and the ranking Democratic member of that subcommittee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), for developing mutually acceptable language to clarify the authority for the Fish and Wildlife Service to enter into cooperative agreements in support of volunteer activities.

This clarification should not only help spur the creation of new partnerships, but also enhance private sources of support for our refuges.

This is good legislation, Mr. Speaker, and I urge all Members to support the bill.

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