BEACHES ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, 

 CLOSURE, AND HEALTH ACT OF 1993 



THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1993 



House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Oceanog- 

 raphy, Gulf of Mexico, and the Outer Continental 

 Shelf, Joint with Subcommittee on Environment 

 AND Natural Resources, Committee on Merchant 

 Marine and Fisheries, 



Washington, DC. 



The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in room 

 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Solomon P. Ortiz 

 [Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oceanography, Gulf of Mexico, 

 and the Outer Continental Shelf] presiding. 



Present: Representatives Ortiz, Eshoo, Laughlin, Schenk, Pal- 

 lone, Reed, Furse, Saxton, and Castle. 



Staff Present: Suzanne J. Waldron, Press Secretary; Robert 

 Wharton, Professional Staff; John Aguirre, Clerk; Terry Schaff, 

 Staff Assistant; Greg Gould, Staff Assistant; Lisa Pittman, Minori- 

 ty Counsel; Laurel Bryant, Minority Professional Staff; Leigh Ann 

 Clajrton, Clerk; Barbara-Jeanne Polo, Professional Staff; Daniel M. 

 Ashe, Senior Professional Staff; Chris Mann, Professional Staff; 

 Margherita Woods, Staff Assistant; Rebecca Feemster Dye, Minori- 

 ty Counsel. 



STATEMENT OF THE HON. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, A U.S. REPRE- 

 SENTATIVE FROM TEXAS, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

 OCEANOGRAPHY, GULF OF MEXICO, AND THE OUTER CONTI- 

 NENTAL SHELF 



Mr. Ortiz. Good afternoon. 



The Subcommittees here will come to order and I would like to 

 welcome all of you here today on behalf of the Subcommittee on 

 Oceanography, Gulf of Mexico, and the Outer Continental Shelf, 

 and the Subcommittee on Environment and Natural Resources. 



Today, the Subcommittees meet to discuss H.R. 31, the Beaches 

 Environmental Assessment, Closure, and Health Act of 1993. 



I would like to commend my good friend from New Jersey, Mr. 

 Hughes, for his leadership in the fight to ensure clean beaches and 

 recreational waters. I, too, share his concern for the health of the 

 Nation's beach-goers. 



I am concerned with the high occurrence of beach closures across 

 the Nation. I believe that vacationers should not be concerned that 

 they will become infected while visiting the shore, or that poten- 

 tially dangerous debris will be floating in the water. 



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