NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC 

 ADMINISTRATION AUTHORIZATION 



WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 1994 



U.S. Senate, 

 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 



Washington, DC. 



The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m. in room 

 SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John F. Kerry, pre- 

 siding. 



Staff members assigned to this hearing: Penelope D. Dalton, sen- 

 ior professional staff member, and Lila H. Helms, professional staff 

 member; and John A. Moran, minority staff counsel. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR KERRY 



Senator Kerry. The hearing will come to order. My apologies to 

 everybody for the delay. I did not forget that we had a hearing, but 

 unfortunately I was held up at the Foreign Relations foreign aid 

 markup. We were talking about an amendment of mine so I could 

 not break out of there, and I apologize to everybody for that fact. 



We are meeting this morning to discuss NOAA's budget reflect- 

 ing the fiscal priorities for 1995, and in addition to that we will dis- 

 cuss proposals to strengthen the involvement of NOAA and the Na- 

 tional Sea Grant College Program in marine aquaculture. So, I am 

 delighted to welcome Dr. Jim Baker, Under Secretary for Oceans 

 and Atmosphere, who will testify on behalf of NOAA. I appreciate 

 your being here today, as you have been on many occasions. 



I would like to welcome the other distinguished witnesses who 

 will provide testimony regarding marine aquaculture: Dr. Paul 

 Sandifer, director of the Marine Division from the South Carolina 

 Department of Natural Resources, member of the National Re- 

 search Council's Marine Board; Rob Garrison, executive director of 

 the Nantucket Research and Education Foundation, a nonprofit or- 

 ganization based in Nantucket, MA; Jan Dill, vice president of the 

 Oceanic Foundation, Honolulu; and finally, Dr. Eric Hallerman, as- 

 sistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife 

 Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic and State University. And thank all 

 of you for coming here today and sharing time with us. 



On my way over here, I was discussing with my legislative direc- 

 tor the impossible, almost nonsensical, constraints that we are op- 

 erating under currently and how probably any one of us could iden- 

 tify serious pockets of waste or nonsensical programs within the 

 $1.5 trillion budget we pass on, but how, nevertheless, annually 

 under these generic caps, we seem to be cutting our own throats, 

 reducing the capacity of Government to function. 



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