Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 676, the Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act of 2023, alongside my colleague from the State of Ohio.

In bipartisan fashion, we gather here today in Congress encouraging our colleagues to support this incredibly important piece of legislation introduced by my colleague from Maine (Ms. Pingree) and my colleague from Florida (Mr. Waltz), two Members who certainly understand the importance of ocean acidification and my colleague from Ohio (Mr. Miller) is spot on.

As Members from the Great Lakes region, we do applaud NOAA's efforts to understand the Great Lakes and to observe their inner workings. At long last, we are finally now requiring the collaboration of our Tribal communities into the Ocean Acidification Board of NOAA. Tribes with their incredible expertise and their knowledge of the inner workings of our oceans will be important contributors to this board, the history of this board, and the way in which we move forward to advance the science of ocean acidification and mitigating the negative impacts of acidification on the livelihoods, traditions, and well-being of coastal communities.

Acidification has resulted from the oceans absorbing about 30 percent of the world's atmospheric carbon emissions. This change in water chemistry has certainly had detrimental impacts on the health of aquatic organisms by inhibiting their ability to grow and develop. The impacts can be felt across all levels of the ocean ecosystem, and it seriously impacts coastal economic activities, such as fisheries, aquaculture, and ecotourism.

Indeed, ocean acidification--and we know this most prominently through discussion about our reefs--has already had considerable impact on the socioeconomic parts of our oceans. It is also true that the impacts are felt well beyond coastal communities and supporting their fight against ocean and coastal acidification should be a national endeavor, which is, again, why we are bringing today's legislation before you.

H.R. 676 would improve the ability of coastal communities to respond to the challenges of acidification by including two representatives from Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Tribal consortia from affected communities, thereby integrating traditional ecological knowledge into science and addressing societal inequities-- inclusion at its best.

Additionally, the bill supports the continued dissemination of research, data, and modern efforts among Federal agencies, non-Federal resource managers, and affected stakeholders by maintaining the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange--knowledge.

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree).

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Maine an additional 30 seconds.

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, in closing, we are also delighted to have new members of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee join us in passing bipartisan legislation. We are so grateful for the expertise from our colleague from Maine and the phenomenal leadership of our ranking member, Ms. Lofgren, and certainly our chair, Mr. Lucas.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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