Marking the Twenty-Fifth Annual Bernie Fowler Patuxent Wade-In

Floor Speech

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the twenty-fifth Patuxent River Wade-In, begun by former Maryland State Senator Bernie Fowler in 1988. This year's wade-in will take place on June 10 at Jefferson Patterson Park in St. Leonard.
We rely on a multitude of measurements to take stock of our economic health, such as the Industrial Production Index, the Consumer Price Index, and the S&P 500 index. However, to take stock of the health of the Patuxent River--and, indeed, of our stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay--there is no index more important than Bernie's annual ``Sneaker Index.'' Bernie's sneakers have now been the leading non-scientific measure of the river's health for a quarter century.

Each year, in order to gauge the health and water quality of the Patuxent River, Bernie has waded into its water to measure its clarity, stopping at the point at which he can no longer see his sneakers. As a young man, he recalled being able to see them clearly when the water was already up to his chest--through as much as sixty inches of river water. When Bernie first waded in the river to measure in 1988, he could only get as far as his shins, recording only eight inches of water before his sneakers disappeared beneath the polluted waters. In 2011, Bernie measured this level at 31.25 inches--slightly lower than the previous year and much lower than the over 42 inch record in 2004. This is a sign that we still have much work to do.

I have had the honor of joining him, along with other Maryland elected officials, at the banks of the Patuxent for many years at this annual event. Throughout his career, Bernie has done much to draw attention to the health of the river and the Chesapeake Bay into which it flows. The Patuxent is the Chesapeake's only tributary to flow entirely through our State, and Marylanders feel a special responsibility to protect it for future generations.

Let us continue to follow in Bernie Fowler's footsteps and heed his call to conserve and protect the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay, and let us leave our children and grandchildren a cleaner and clearer Patuxent and Chesapeake to enjoy and treasure.

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