Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support today of H.R. 1620, the Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act, that will extend and fund the Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program until 2024.

I am proud to have joined my colleagues from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Representatives Elaine Luria, Bobby Scott, and John Sarbanes in introducing this important legislation.

The Chesapeake Bay is, indeed, a national treasure and a centerpiece of the culture and economy of many communities in Virginia and neighboring States.

A clean and healthy Bay is the right thing to do for future generations, but it will also support local economies and provide numerous other economic and quality-of-life benefits.

The commercial seafood industry alone employs 34,000 in Virginia and Maryland and generates $3.4 billion in sales.

A clean and healthy Bay also supports a vibrant tourism and outdoor recreational industry. These industries in the watershed support over 820,000 jobs and $13 billion in income.

EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program does important work in partnership with Bay States to control pollution and manage nutrient runoff into the rivers feeding into the Bay.

Through the Chesapeake Bay Program, we see the overall health of the Bay has improved significantly over the last 30 years. We are seeing better water quality, more rockfish, more blue crabs, more oysters, and the list goes on and on.

However, without continued collaboration among stakeholders and Federal support, progress in the Bay is indeed threatened. With today's actions, we are one step closer to ensuring that the Chesapeake Bay remains the economic foundation of our region that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

We all enjoy the Bay, whether we are in the Bay watershed or outside the Bay watershed. It really is, indeed, a national treasure.

If you look and think about the Bay, the workboats that you see there on a daily basis, the great way of life of folks in these waterside communities, it really is, I think, incumbent upon all of us to work hard and make sure we continue, not just to preserve the Bay, but make sure we see the Bay improve in water quality.

It plays an important role in my family. My son is a commercial fisherman, what we call in our area, a waterman, so he lets me know on a daily basis what is right and what is not right with the Chesapeake Bay, and encourages me to make sure we are doing everything we can to continue as good stewards of that fantastic resource, to make sure it continues to provide for those people that make their living off of the water; but also provides for the quality of life of those folks that live in the watershed, and continues to be a national treasure.

Even today under the stress, it is, indeed, one of the most productive water bodies in the entire world. If we continue on this path of improving the water quality there, I believe it can be even more productive and provide even more economic value, as well as just that intrinsic value that it provides to all of us; not just those in the watershed but to us as a Nation.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure and continuing the vital work of saving the Chesapeake Bay.

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