52 

 APPENDIX 



OWMERCE COMMtTTEE 



2452 Haviurn BuiLSiMC SMAU BUSINESS COMMTTTEE 



Wa$m«.cto«. DC 205 IS 

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dongTESs of the lanitd States 



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(5031231-2300 ^^ SELECT COMMCTTIE ON AGING 



OPENING STATEMENT 



REPRESENTATIVE RON WYDEN 



NEWPORT, OREGON, JUNE 4, 1993 



suBCOMurmE 



PORESTRY 2000 TASK FORCE 



In recent months, a controversy has been raging throughout the 

 Northwest, over the annual whiting allocation decision made last 

 April by the Department of Commerce. The Small Business 

 Subcommittee on Regulation, Business Opportunities and Technology 

 meets today in Newport at the request of my good friend. 

 Congressman Mike Kopetski, to learn first hand the economic impact 

 of this decision on this community, on Oregon, and on the fishing 

 industry as a whole. 



Back in Washington, D.C., the effect that federal regulations 

 and decisions have on business and communities are all too 

 frequently obscured in a haze of statistics and official 

 justifications. Today, we have asked our witnesses to explain in 

 detail the official whiting allocation decision, to examine all the 

 consequences of this decision, and to help Congress in determining 

 whether the process has worked or how it should be improved. 



There are a number of critical issues the subcommittee has 

 asked today's witnesses to address. 



First, and most importantly to this subcommittee, if the 

 fishing fleets and processing businesses in Newport and other 

 coastal communities suffer or fail as a result of the Department of 

 Commerce's whiting allocation decision, it will be a disaster for 

 Oregon. 



It is important to recognize that, as the federal government 

 has a significant investment in the economic success of Oregon's 

 coastal businesses and communities, the economic consequences of 

 this decision reach beyond the coastal region. A tide of business 

 failures in the region's shore-based fishing and fish processing 

 industry could wash away many other businesses backed by federally 

 supported loans. For example, there are over 41 Small Business 

 Administration Loans directly related to the fishing industry in 

 Costal Oregon which are now at serious risk because of the economic 

 impact of the whiting allocation. In Clatsop, Tillamook and 

 Lincoln counties alone, there are an additional 80 SEA loans 

 supporting a variety of secondary and support businesses — 

 hardware shops, boat repair yards, restaurants and other small 

 enterprises that directly and indirectly owe their survival to the 

 on-shore fishing industry. These loans, totaling tens of millions 

 of dollars, are now also at risk. 



THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE 0^ RECYCLED FIBERS 



