earlier in the century. These, of course, led to the enactment of the 

 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 



No single State acting on its own and out-of-synchrony with 

 other involved States can hope to manage coastal migratory fishes 

 and fisheries effectively. On the other hand, adverse action or inac- 

 tion by any single State can effectively stymie the cooperative ef- 

 forts of many States with one another to manage such resources 

 effectively. The provisions of the bill, if enacted, would go a long 

 way toward resolving these potentially disastrous consequences. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to express the 

 views of the Department. I am available for answering questions if 

 you have any. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Tillman can be found at the end 

 of the hearing.] 



Mr. Studds. Thank you, sir. As I recall seven years ago, your at- 

 torneys were raising constitutional questions about the striped bass 

 bill. I assume the same lawyers that are still there? 



Dr. Tillman. That is correct. 



Mr. Studds. Fortunately, the striped bass is also still there while 

 they are debating amongst themselves. I assume that 



Dr. Tillman. Nonetheless, we still see this as — well, the proposed 

 bill is the way that we must proceed. 



Mr. Studds. That is abundantly clear and genuinely frightening, 

 but if your attorneys have nothing better to do than argue about 

 the constitutionality of an interjurisdictional fisheries bill, it may 

 well be that the Russians gave up prematurely. I don't know. For- 

 give us — all that commotion. There is a vote on the floor. I am 

 going to go at least to Don Barry before we break. Don, it says here 

 you are the Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wild- 

 life and Parks. I assume that is the Assistant Secretary-designate? 



Mr. Barry. That is correct. 



Mr. Studds. Yes. Welcome, it is nice to see you again. 



STATEMENT OF DONALD BARRY, COUNSELOR TO THE ASSIST- 

 ANT SECRETARY FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE AND PARKS, U.S. 

 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; ACCOMPANIED BY GARY ED- 

 WARDS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR FISHERIES 



Mr. Barry. Good afternoon. My name is Don Barry, and I am 

 the counselor to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish 

 and Wildlife and Parks. It is indeed a pleasure to return to my old 

 Committee. I look forward to working with you on this and other 

 issues. I am testifying today on behalf of Secretary Babbitt. Since I 

 am just the typical pretty political face brought in to testify at a 

 Congressional hearing, I would like to introduce Gary Edwards 

 who is the Fish and Wildlife Service's Assistant Director for Fish- 

 eries who is with us today. 



Mr. Chairman, the Department of the Interior strongly supports 

 the intent of the draft Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Man- 

 agement Act of 1993. We are currently reviewing the draft bill 

 within the Administration and will provide you with our suggested 

 amendments to the bill as soon as possible. 



Numerous Atlantic Coast fish populations, including weakfish 

 and summer flounder, are on the decline or at historic low levels of 



