Mr. FARR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. FARR. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, this amendment is very destructive to a very good policy that was created by this House by the Committee on Natural Resources when, back in the late nineties, all of the Federal agencies and private sector came to Congress and said, We have a lot of conflicts of the sea. We need to start doing some planning in the ocean, like we have on land, so that we can get jobs done.
We were losing all kinds of equipment to fisheries and mining operations. It was just a huge mess. No Federal agency knew what the other Federal agency was doing. It was all on public lands called the ``oceans,'' and the exploration of the oceans was very underserved.
The underlying bill that this amendment attacks was created by the committee in order to create a commission made up, in fact, of people from Texas for the oil industry. One of the things they said is, Stop that conflict. Let's have smart ocean planning. Let's help use and conserve our finite resources and grow our ocean economy.
This is the way to do it, but this amendment wipes it all back. It goes back to the Dark Ages. It goes back to the flat Earth opinion about ocean planning, which is: don't do it.
The aquaculture industry, which is a $1.2 billion industry, has said this would be very destructive, that the Flores amendment would be a major setback for our industry. The aquaculture is growing, and we rely on efficient permitting and long-term planning so our industry can grow and prosper.
If the Army Corps of Engineers can't engage in the National Ocean Policy planning that is geared toward helping our industry, then that is what sets us up for failure.
The North American Submarine Cable Association is opposed to this amendment. They stated that the first and foremost undersea cable operators engage in coastal marine spatial planning. Did you know that undersea cables, not satellites, carry more than 95 percent of the international voice, data and Internet traffic in the United States? They are critical for national security, and they carry civilian and military and U.S. Government traffic.
The Corps is working to improve coastal and sea floor maps and nautical charts, which are critical for navigation, citing offshore energy and recreational boating and fishing. The list goes on and on.
Even in the gentleman's home State of Texas, there are 170,000 people who are employed in the ocean economy. His amendment would destroy their ability to have good planning.
So I urge all of my friends to oppose this amendment, which is opposed by the private sector and public sectors, and it is just not smart thinking.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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