Save Our Seas Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1982, Save Our Seas 2.0, and to commend my colleagues for their work to resolve the serious issues our country and our world have with marine debris.

For over 70 years, plastic has evolved to be invaluable in many applications. It's used as a high-performance material for medical devices and in safety components for automobiles. Plastic is also convenient. It's a mainstay in American households from our toothbrushes to food storage to shampoo and detergent bottles. Global plastic production increased from 2 million tons per year in 1950 to 400 million tons annually in recent years.

What happens to all of this discarded plastic is why I am speaking out in support of this legislation today. We can no longer deny that we face a plastic waste crisis. There are plenty of reasons for why and how we got here; however, a major factor is because we failed as a nation to invest in domestic recycling infrastructure and policies to account for the growing demand for plastic. As a result, today, the U.S. recycles just 9 percent of its plastic waste.

At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans and Great Lakes every year and make up 80 percent of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. This marine debris ends up being ingested or entangled by marine life, from whales to sea birds, causing severe injuries and death.

In addition to the harm it causes our marine ecosystem, plastic debris also endangers our human health, coastal tourism, and threatens our food safety. This important bill works to improve the domestic response to marine debris, incentivize international engagement on marine debris, and strengthen domestic waste management infrastructure to prevent the creation of new marine debris.

This crisis will not be solved by only one bill or another. We need to work together as a Congress on bicameral, bipartisan solutions that have the potential to create jobs, develop supply chains, and meet environmental needs.

This summer, I was proud to introduce the bipartisan Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Act which directs the establishment of a plastic waste reduction and recycling research and development program to develop a world-leading U.S. industry in advanced plastics recycling technologies, and unleash the innovative potential of our nation to address our plastic waste crisis and generate greater value from the plastics we do produce.

I would like to congratulate my colleagues, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Congressman Don Young, Senator Dan Sullivan, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, on the passage of this historic bill, and I look forward to working with them and our colleagues on powerful solutions to solve our plastic waste crisis.

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