CONFLICTS OF ENTEREST WITHIN THE RE- 

 GIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT COUN- 

 CILS 



WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1994 



House of Representatives, 

 Subcommittee on Fisheries Management 

 Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 



Washington, DC. 

 The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:30 p.m., in room 

 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Thomas J. Manton 

 [chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 



Present: Representatives Manton, Unsoeld, Lancaster, Hamburg, 

 Cantwell, Young, Coble, Kingston, and Torkildsen. 



Staff Present: Jeffrey Pike, Chief of Staff; Sue Waldron, Press 

 Secretary; Jim Mathews, Staff Director; Greg Lambert, Counsel; 

 Lori Rosa, Staff Assistant; Jean Flemma and Frank Lockhart, Pro- 

 fessional Staff; Rod Moore, Dave Whaley, Ed Lee, and Margherita 

 Woods, Minority Profesional Staff; and Bonnie Bruce, Sea Grant 

 Fellow. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS J. MANTON, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW YORK, AND CHAIRMAN, SUB- 

 COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES MANAGEMENT 



Mr. Manton. Good afternoon, and welcome to what I expect will 

 be our last hearing on the Magnuson Act before we proceed to a 

 markup of the reauthorization. Today we will hear from the Com- 

 merce Department's Inspector General on the issue of conflicts of 

 interest within the Regional Fisheries Management Councils. 



It has been said that everything you need to know you learn in 

 kindergarten. As we examine the issue of conflicts of interest under 

 the Magnuson Act, I am reminded of the lessons of work and fair- 

 ness learned in childhood. 



We all recall a group called the PTA. Parent Teacher Associa- 

 tions are based on the concept that those most interested in seeing 

 our schools run well will devote their time and effort to make our 

 schools succeed. For the same reasons, the Boy and Girl Scouts 

 look to parents to be troop leaders. 



Other experiences of childhood taught us about fairness and we 

 all learned that there were instances when someone treated us un- 

 fairly out of selfishness. Other times, however, we unjustly accused 

 our parents, teachers, and friends of being unfair merely because 

 they didn't give us what we wanted. 



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