CONGRESSIONAL VIEWS 
Senator Mathias: Thank you very much, Mr. Gordon. First 
of all, let me say what a wonderful idea I think it is to have 
an Estuary-of-the-Month. As you were ticking off the estuaries 
that you've already looked at and ones that you're going to 
visit, I was overwhelmed by a sense of wanting to get out and 
get on the road and see all those places. 
It's one thing to look at a map or to look at a study or a 
list of statistics about an estuary and in sort of a general way 
absorb what it's all about. But to look at it specifically and 
directly and to study it is worth a great deal because I think 
that will give you not only a sense of what each estuary — the 
characteristics of each estuary — but will give you a sense of 
how they relate to each other. And I think doing it once a 
month, an Estuary-of-the-Month, is a great idea. And I'm very 
happy to be able to visit with you as you take a hard look and a 
careful look at the Chesapeake Bay. 
Now I think we have to settle one thing at the outset. That 
is, there is no doubt in my mind, as I think there is probably 
very little doubt in your mind, that you know more about the 
subject than I do. Certainly you know a good deal more about 
many aspects of the subject than I know. That makes me approach 
this job of talking about the Chesapeake with you with a great 
deal of humility because many of you have been highly trained, 
and have spent years in professional practice in various aspects 
of environmental science that deals with estuaries such as the 
Chesapeake Bay. 
My real qualification, as Mr. Gordon has suggested, is that 
I've known the Bay a long time and have been fascinated with the 
Bay. When I was a boy my family would occasionally make forays 
into the Eastern Shore. In those days, the way you got to the 
Eastern Shore was by driving into the center of the City of 
Annapolis. Where the Field House at the Naval Academy now 
stands on filled land was a ferry slip. Then you drove a few 
miles across Kent Island and took a second ferry over to the 
mainland of the Eastern Shore. Having done that a number of 
times, I felt a very close association with the Bay and every¬ 
thing about it. So it has been a lifetime love affair. In 
talking to you today I have a practical difficulty sensing that 
you're the experts, to try to lay out something for you that may 
be of interest and value. They tell a story about a little girl 
who was late for Sunday School and her mother was looking for 
her and found her rummaging around in her bureau drawers and 
closets. And her mother asked her what she was doing, she ought 
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