Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Seeking Aid for Our Fishermen

Today I sent a letter to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner urging him to support any measure that would provide the fishing industry with monetary assistance.  Currently, the House is debating a disaster appropriations act, however, the House Committee on Rules struck down several amendments that would have provided the fishing industry with as much as $150 million of aid.

With a decrease in allowable catches of certain groundfish looming, the situation in Gloucester and fishing ports up and down the Northeast Coast is dire, and while some of our elected officials are working hard, without the cooperation of all our federal elected leaders, the fishing industry will cease to exist as we know it, putting the livelihoods of our fishermen, their families and shoreside business owners in jeopardy.

Posted below is the letter to Speaker Boehner and a press release I sent to the local media.