June 18, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 102 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2019

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2740) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health, and 
     Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chair, I thank the Gentlewoman from New York for 
writing such a strong State Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. You 
are a truly able chair. The base bill and report contain $500,000 for 
Grass Carp control and this amendment doubles down on that investment, 
by providing an additional $500,000 for a total of $1 million for the 
Great Lakes Fisheries Commission to manage Grass Carp.
  Much of the countries Asian Carp focus has been on stopping the Big-
Head Carp, but let us not forget that the Grass Carp pose an 
existential threat to the economic future of the Great Lakes.
  This threat is not theoretical. Just a few weeks ago, we found Grass 
Carp larva in the Maumee River. Every day, fisherman remove Grass Carp 
from the Lakes.
  To understand just how dangerous the Grass Carp are, it is important 
to understand that on average, they consume 50 percent of their body 
weight of vegetation in just one day.
  Think about those numbers. A five-pound grass carp consumes 2.5 
pounds of vegetation in a single day.
  While Grass Carp present a deadly threat to the Great Lakes fishery 
today, far too few resources have been allocated to the Grass Carp.
  The Great Lakes Fisheries commission is an ideal partner to control 
this bi-national threat. The commission operates in coordination across 
our national borders to protect both American and Canadian fisheries.
  The biodiversity, commercial and recreational fishery on the Great 
Lakes are threatened by the Grass Carp.
  The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has a long history of controlling 
invasive species across the American-Canadian border.
  This amendment fills critical gaps and I urge my colleagues to 
support it.

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