Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2007)

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment. We have 28 million people living within 50 miles of the Long Island Sound. It contributes more than $5 billion to our economy annually. It provides environmental, recreational, and economic opportunity for our communities.

It is an estuary designated by Congress for its national significance. Our responsibility is to keep major and potentially dangerous industrial product out of our fragile sound. That includes the LNG Broadwater facility. This would install a floating vessel, roughly the size of Queen Mary 2, 10.2 miles off the Connecticut coast, 9 miles off the Long Island coast.

It calls for the installation of a 25-mile pipeline in the middle of prime territory for lobstering and fishing. It creates an exclusionary zone, prohibits any vessels from coming within a certain distance of the facility itself and delivery tankers. It would fall to the Coast Guard to maintain our security.

Their funds are stretched thin. Instead of being able to manage fisheries, conducting lifesaving operations, and dealing with port security, we will be diverting resources to these tankers. It would propose a new security risk.

I commend Mr. Bishop and my colleague, Mr. Courtney. This amendment gives DOE the time to address these concerns.

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