Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair for yielding, and I thank her for her leadership on these issues and so many others in her committee's domain.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1921, the bipartisan Ocean Acidification Innovation Act. Ocean acidification is a rising threat to coastal communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and threatens entire livelihoods and industries in my home State of Washington.

There are generation of folks along the sound and in our coastal communities who have worked in fishing and in shellfish growing, but that is endangered if we don't maintain a healthy Pacific Ocean.

Growing evidence suggests that acidic ocean conditions harm the ability of many marine organisms to generate shells. These marine organisms, which include oysters, mussels, and pteropods are a key part of the food chain for salmon, herring, and other fish.

Scientists back home at the University of Washington recently discovered that ocean acidification also threatens the more than $220 million Dungeness crab fishery, raising serious concerns about future implications for species and ecosystems in the region.

In Washington State alone, the commercial fishing and seafood processing industry, which includes shellfish aquaculture, contribute nearly 16,000 jobs and $9.4 billion in revenue to our economy. According to a report by Washington Sea Grant, Washington State is the Nation's leading producer of farmed clams, oysters, and mussels, and not only are these products delicious, they support jobs.

So really, the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act is really about jobs. This bill would allow Federal agencies to use existing funds to conduct prize competitions to increase the ability to research, monitor, and manage ocean acidification and its impacts. I agree with the chair that this can't and shouldn't replace direct investment in research. But this bill creates a strong incentive for experts to focus on developing innovative solutions to this serious challenge.

This legislation was created in collaboration with key stakeholders, including the XPRIZE Foundation, an innovative nonprofit organization that creates competitions designed to encourage increased investment in solutions to major societal problems. So, for example, the Ansari XPRIZE awarded for personal spaceflight technology helped launch a brand-new $2 billion private space industry.

Research also suggests that prize competitions often increase exponentially the amount of research focused on solving a problem. For example, the Ansari XPRIZE yielded over $100 million in private research as 26 teams competed for a $10 million prize.

So Federal agencies have increasingly viewed these prize competitions as a means of maximizing the return on taxpayer dollars, leveraging prizes to attract more resources to tackle different scientific challenges.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the Ocean Acidification and Innovation Act will encourage collaboration and spur innovative strategies to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification. It will help communities, environments, and industries that rely on healthy oceans and are facing the hard realities of increasing ocean acidification.

I want to thank my colleague from the Pacific Northwest, Representative Jamie Herrera Beutler, as well as Suzanne Bonamici and Don Young for cosponsoring this important legislation. I also want to thank the chair and the ranking member for their continued leadership and their support of this.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1921) to authorize Federal agencies to establish prize competitions for innovation or adaptation management development relating to ocean acidification, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 1921, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1921, the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019, and I thank Mr. Kilmer for introducing this important legislation and working with our committee.

Additionally, I thank the Science, Space, and Technology Committee members on both sides of the aisle for their work to advance this bill.

Ms. Bonamici; Ms. Herrera Beutler; Mr. Crist; the Environment Subcommittee chair, Mrs. Fletcher; the Environment Subcommittee ranking member, Mr. Marshall; and my friend, Ranking Member Lucas.

Ocean acidification, as we have discussed today, is a serious problem. This bill would create Federal prize competitions to spur innovation in understanding ocean acidification and developing management strategies for responding to ocean acidification.

Federal prize competitions, while not a replacement for federally funded research, allow the government to transfer risk to prize participants and stimulate private-sector investment. This could enhance and augment our understanding of this important issue.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1921, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I would simply urge the support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairwoman for yielding and for her support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Congressman Kilmer's bipartisan Ocean Acidification Innovation Act. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill, along with Representative Herrera Beutler from Washington, and my House Oceans Caucus co-chair Representative Young from Alaska.

This bill would establish a prize competition for Federal agencies that serve on the Interagency Working Group on Ocean Acidification to increase efforts to research, monitor, and manage ocean acidification and its effects. Our understanding of ocean acidification and its interactions with other environmental stressors, such as hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and warming waters is rapidly evolving, but still limited in scope.

A 2009 paper from the Ocean Carbon and Biochemistry's Ocean Acidification Subcommittee estimated that a U.S. national program on ocean acidification would need $50 million to $100 million per year to provide timely information for managers and decisionmakers.

A 2012 report from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, based on informal conversations with various Federal agencies, estimated a need for approximately $95 million for all Federal ocean acidification research and monitoring by next year, 2020.

In fiscal year 2019, the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program received only $12 million, so there is no doubt that gaps in funding are a result of insufficient resources.

The prize competition established in this bill will encourage collaboration and spur innovative strategies to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification. This will help the communities, environments, and industries that rely on a healthy ocean and are facing harsh realities of rising carbon emissions.

Again, I thank Congressman Kilmer for his leadership, especially given the pervasive effects of ocean acidification on the Pacific Coast. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1921, the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019.

This bipartisan legislation is sponsored by Representative Derek Kilmer and Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, who can speak firsthand to how ocean acidification is harming the shellfish population off Washington State.

H.R. 1921 would allow Federal science agencies to use existing funds to conduct prize competitions to increase our ability to research, monitor, and manage the impacts of ocean acidification.

By creating incentives, the legislation recognizes the need to engage nonprofit groups, private citizens, and the academic community in the development of solutions to address this problem. Establishment of this competition will enable us to leverage the ingenuity and resourcefulness of these communities.

Mr. Speaker, this bill represents an innovative approach to tackling this problem, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I note to my colleague that I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I missed votes Monday, June 3 through Wednesday, June 5. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

Roll Call Vote Number 232 (Concurring in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 2157, the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, 2019): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 233 (Passing H.R. 2940): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 234 (Approving the Journal): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 235 (Ordering the Previous Question): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 236 (Passing H. Res. 415): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 237 (Approving the Journal): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 238 (Passing H. Res. 393): YES; Roll Call Vote Number 239 (Motion to Recommit H.R. 6): NO; Roll Call Vote Number 240 (Passing H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act): YES; and Roll Call Vote Number 241 (Passing H.R. 1921, the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019): YES.