37 



remain open until April 15, 1994, to receive comments and state- 

 ments from individu^s not present today. 



Today, we have our distinguished Chairman of the Governmental 

 Affairs Committee, Senator Glenn, to make some statements in 

 this hearing. 



Senator Glenn? 



OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN GLENN 



Chairman Glenn. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank 

 my distinguished friend and colleague, Senator Akaka, for holding 

 this important hearing today on the impacts of exotic species on 

 our Nation's environment and economy. It is an important hearing. 

 Sometimes, people joke about these things, but they are no joke for 

 those places that are being infested. 



You wouldn't think that Lake Erie, the whole Great Lakes re- 

 gion, Hawaii and Florida would have a whole lot in common be- 

 sides some beautiful beaches, maybe, but we all share a real vul- 

 nerability to the irreparable damage which can be caused by exotic 

 species. 



I want to take just a short time to talk about my special concern 

 with aquatic nuisance species and describe the good work done by 

 the Great Lakes Task Force, which helped to secure the passage 

 of the Non-Indigenous Aquatic Species Prevention and Control Act 

 of 1990. 



Unique features of our water resources and coastal zones have, 

 over the millennia, fostered intricate and longstanding species as- 

 sociations. Together, these associations comprise the web of life 

 which supports our economy and our culture. In the Great Lakes 

 region, like other coastal regions, the web of life is unique, it is di- 

 verse, and it is productive. But exotic species can change all that 

 in a very short time; historically, almost in the blink of an eye. 



While aquatic organisms enter the Great Lakes through many 

 avenues, perhaps the greatest threat is by discharge of ballast 

 water from commercial vessels. The impact of this ballast discharge 

 has been especially dramatized by the zebra mussel infestation 

 which now plagues the ecology and industrial infrastructure of our 

 region. 



Already, rare native clams have come extinct in zebra mussel- 

 infested portions of the basin. Users of raw water, such as power 

 f)lants, sewage systems and factories, have spent millions £uid mil- 

 ions in extra maintenance costs for zebra mussel removal. I have 

 been up along Ohio's shoreline and visited some of those places. I 

 have seen the encrustations, 8, 10 inches thick; in some places a 

 foot thick. It is almost unbelievable what has happened with these 

 growths. 



We have real concerns that the zebra mussel or one of the many 

 other non-native species that have been unintentionally introduced 

 in our waters may ultimately destroy our lucrative commercial and 

 sport fishing industry. Folks used to chuckle some when we men- 

 tioned the very name of our uninvited guest, the zebra mussel. I 

 still remember when they first brought this subject up to me and 

 said we want to talk to you about zebra mussels. Allegra Cangelosi, 

 who is on our Great Lakes Task Force, and whom some of you 

 know, brought a bottle of these little critters into my office. I 



