Tag Archives: D-Mass
NOAA’s spending on itself is under attack by Senator “Mo” Cowan! YOU GO MO!
WASHINGTON – The plight of New England’s groundfishing fleet was once again a topic on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a Massachusetts senator questioned a federal official about how his agency is spending money that’s intended to help fishermen. But Sen. William “Mo” Cowan, D-Mass., pressed a top Department of Commerce official on the use of federal dollars by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Cowan said that, according to his calculations, just $8 million of the $113 million available in 2010 through the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act program went to fisheries. That decades-old program uses fees on imported fish to provide grants or development projects to benefit the U.S. fishing industry. continued
Senate Republicans seek to remove funds to assist fishermen from a Hurricane Sandy relief package.
Battle brews over disaster relief for Maine, New England fisheries
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pointed out that five states in the middle of the U.S. received nearly $40 billion in funding for 68 federally designated disasters between 2004 and 2011. “We have more than five states asking for $150 million,” Kerry said in response to an earlier attempt to separate out the fisheries money. “I will just say point blank: This legislation is not going to pass without the inclusion of fisheries money.” Read more
