Providing for Consideration of HR 152, Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013
Floor Speech
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Mr. MARKEY. I thank the gen tle lady.
I rise in opposition to the rule.
From Cape Cod to Cape Ann, New Bedford to Newburyport, Massachusetts' fishing families are hurting. I, along with the gentlemen from Massachusetts, Congressman Tierney and Congressman Keating, offered three amendments to this bill to restore disaster funding for fishermen in Massachusetts and around the country. And to those three amendments, the House Republicans said no, no, no.
The House Republicans have cut a lifeline to our struggling Massachusetts fishermen. The Republicans in Congress are telling Massachusetts fishermen to take a long walk off a short pier.
The economic disaster declared for parts of the New England fishery industry last year was in large part a result of the same forces that made Superstorm Sandy so damaging--the forces of climate change. It hit New York, it hit New Jersey, it hit Massachusetts.
Climate change is increasing temperatures; it's raising sea levels; it's strengthening storms. That means more stress on New England's iconic cod and other species.
I support getting help to the people of New Jersey and New York and Connecticut, but we cannot forget the other Americans who suffered last year. The fishermen of Massachusetts, the fishermen of our country cannot be forgotten. This bill says no to them, no to their needs. I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule.
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