8 



ator Kerry, who will not be able to stay with us for the entirety of 

 this hearing, to make a statement of his own, and then welcome 

 him to stay as long as he would like. 



STATEMENT OF THE HON. JOHN F. KERRY, A SENATOR FROM 

 THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS 



Senator Kerry. Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. It 

 looks like all of the Phillies fans are fogged in today. I can under- 

 stand why Congressman Saxton is not here. 



I appreciate your courtesy in letting me come and share just a 

 few words. I ask the indulgence of the various panelists to permit 

 me to do so and apologize for the fact that my schedule does not 

 permit me to stay. I did want to come because this is an issue that 

 has greatly concerned you and me particularly, as sort of respec- 

 tive branch members of the Massachusetts delegation on the com- 

 mittees or jurisdiction. I personally applaud your leadership and 

 sensitivity to all of the issues of concern here. I think you have bal- 

 anced them extraordinarily effectively and we are all appreciative 

 of your position of Chair of this vital Committee. 



As the Vice Chairman of the National Ocean Policies Study Sub- 

 committee on the Commerce Committee and the Senate, I have 

 been able to work closely with you on a number of the issues of 

 concern here. We have been able to get $500,000 to the Geological 

 Survey for very important monitoring. We have been able to, after 

 about seven or eight years of work, get the Stellwagen Bank Sanc- 

 tuary officially designated. That is not insignificant in the context 

 of the issues that bring us here today. Because, clearly, we did that 

 with an overall view to the long-term sanctity of the ecosystem. It 

 would be mindless and, in fact, negligent to the point of perhaps 

 even generational criminality if we were to have done that only to 

 wind up affecting the ecosystem through other well-intended and 

 well-meaning steps that we take. I know you share that view, 

 which is why you are here. 



In addition, I crafted an amendment for NO A A which will help 

 frame the monitoring and baseline establishment. I think that is 

 really vital to our capacity to proceed. I am not an expert, and I 

 don't come here to make any comments with any pretense to being 

 an expert. Perhaps our virtue is that we sit there and gather infor- 

 mation from all sides and try to sift through it. 



The recent biological opinion raises questions, but, at the same 

 time it answers questions. I think it is most important — and the 

 reason I wanted to come here today is to applaud the process that 

 brings together EPA, the Geological Survey, NMFS, the Congress, 

 and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority; all of the enti- 

 ties which are so critical to, in the future, making judgments about 

 the opinions that have been laid out so far. They are opinions. It is 

 called an opinion, it is indeed an opinion. There is no sufficient sci- 

 ence at this point that frankly, in my judgment, answers all of the 

 questions raised to anybody's satisfaction with certainty. That 

 means that the effort that must now be put in place is the most 

 competent, the most accountable continued monitoring and data 

 gathering and decisionmaking process. So, it is particularly healthy 

 that all of those entities are here today to understand that, from 



