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S3742 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 26, 2007 the ‘‘do-nothing’’ Congress. The 110th a bright yellow in contrast to those of Which is worse: Leaders offering peanuts Congress is quickly becoming the ‘‘say the Atlantic menhaden, which are for a vote of this magnitude, or Members al- anything and do-nothing Congress’’ grayish. Menhaden range in weight up lowing their votes to be bought for peanuts. when it comes to fiscal discipline. Last to 1 pound or more. At sea, schools of The editorial went on to conclude: week, when the Senate debated the Atlantic menhaden may contain mil- These provisions demean a bill that, if en- budget, the majority spoke of the need lions of members. Common names for acted, would affect the lives of troops in Iraq for fiscal discipline, even as it passed Atlantic menhaden are mossbunkers and Afghanistan, the balance of power in the Middle East and America’s long-term secu- the $700 billion tax hike for taxpayers and fatback. In Florida, yellowfin men- rity. over the next 5 years. haden are called pogies, and are the In short, what we have is that my The chairman of the Senate Budget preferred species for use as strip bait. Committee was quoted as saying: This is important. It talks about the colleagues on the other side of the aisle We have a responsibility to govern, and range, since this is supposedly done as are willing to put money into pet you can’t govern without a budget. part of the Hurricane Katrina relief projects—which may or may not be But governing takes more than sim- measure. It says gulf menhaden range worthy endeavors, we will never ply passing a budget. Governing also from the Yucatan Peninsula to Tampa know—and yet are unwilling to ade- includes the discipline to live within a Bay, FL, with finescaled menhaden quately fund the needs of our military. budget. from the Yucatan to Louisiana—I For all their talk of earmark reform Unfortunately, both the Senate and guess we are getting a little closer now and transparency earlier this year, my the House failed in their first test by to where Hurricane Katrina hit—yel- colleagues seemed to have forgotten all including billions more in the war sup- lowfin menhaden from Louisiana to of that when they put together the sup- plemental than the President re- North Carolina, the Atlantic menhaden plemental appropriations bill. Madam President, I yield the floor, quested. As I mentioned, President ranges from Jupiter Inlet, FL, to Nova and I suggest the absence of a quorum. Bush has already threatened to veto Scotia. The various species of menha- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. STA- the House bill; not all because of the den occur anywhere from estuarine BENOW). The clerk will call the roll. timetable it imposes for our troops’ waters outward to the Continental The bill clerk proceeded to call the withdrawal from Iraq but also because Shelf. roll. the bill is full of pork. It says that menhaden are essentially Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, In today’s edition of the Politico, filter feeders, straining microscopic I ask unanimous consent the order for they did a fine job of identifying some plankton, algae, et cetera, from the the quorum call be rescinded. of the most egregious examples of pork water they swim through open- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without included in the House bill. They high- mouthed. Unlike mullet, they are not objection, it is so ordered. The Senator lighted $5 million for tropical fish bottom feeders. Due to their feeding from Tennessee is recognized. breeders and transporters for losses habits, they must be caught by cast Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, from a virus last year; $25 million for netting to be used as live bait. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in spinach that growers and handlers were This is the most interesting part of morning business for up to 8 minutes. unable to market, up to 75 percent of the article. It says: menhaden are not The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without their losses; $60.4 million for the Na- used for human consumption. Most re- objection, it is so ordered. cently, menhaden has begun to be ex- tional Marine Fisheries Service to be f distributed among fishing commu- ploited as a source of omega-3 fatty nities, Indian tribes, individuals, small acid fish oil for commercial human FIRING OF U.S. ATTORNEYS businesses, including fishermen, fish consumption, further threatening men- Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, processors, and related businesses, and haden populations. my late friend Alex Haley, the author other persons for assistance to miti- I certainly don’t know what the pur- of Roots, lived his life by 6 words: gate the economic and other social ef- pose is of this $120 million for shrimp ‘‘Find the Good and Praise It.’’ I fects by a commercial fishery failure. and the menhaden fishing industries, thought of those 6 words in connection It also includes $74 million for the but I can’t see in this description, or with the current discussion about the payment of storage, handling, and anywhere else in this legislation, why firing of 8 United States Attorneys. other associated costs for the 2007 crop this is an emergency or why it ought to The Democrats are making political of peanuts to ensure proper storage of be included in an emergency war sup- hay out of these firings at a time when peanuts for which a loan is made, and plemental. If anything, the inclusion of the Senate should be focused on Iraq, the House bill also includes $120 mil- this kind of appropriation in this emer- terrorism, health care costs, excessive lion for the shrimp and menhaden fish- gency war supplemental in the House federal spending, energy independence ing industries to cover consequences of bill trivializes the importance of pro- and keeping our brainpower advantage Hurricane Katrina. viding the money that will help our so we can keep our good jobs here in- Now, I have to confess, even though I troops deployed in Afghanistan and stead of seeing them move overseas. like to fish a little myself, I had never Iraq in harm’s way. U.S. Attorneys have always been po- even heard of menhaden, so I went on Here is what the Senate bill included: litical appointees serving at the pleas- the Internet to something called the $24 million for funding of sugar beets; ure of the president. President Clinton Menhaden Fact Sheet. This is, if you $3 million funding for sugar cane, all of fired them all on his first day in office. will recall, $120 million for the shrimp which goes to a Hawaiian cooperative; Such partisanship is nothing new. and menhaden fishing industries to $100 million for dairy product losses; an Former Attorney General Griffin Bell cover consequences of Hurricane additional $31 million for a 1-month ex- recently said that the custom once was Katrina. Well, as it turns out, accord- tension of the Milk Income Loss Con- for U.S. attorneys simply to vacate ing to the Wikipedia, the free encyclo- tract Program; 13 million for Ewe their offices on the day a new president pedia on the Internet, the menhaden Lamb Replacement and Retention Pro- was inaugurated, knowing that new po- are fish of the—well, I can’t even pro- gram; $115 million for the conservation litical appointees would soon arrive to nounce the Latin phrase, but they are security program; $100 million for take their desks. of the herring family. small agricultural dependent busi- In the summer of 1963, in between my It says here, describing this menha- nesses; $13 million for mine safety first and second year at New York Uni- den that the taxpayer is being asked to technology research; $50 million for versity Law School, I worked in Attor- pay $120 million in this emergency war fisheries disaster mitigation fund. ney General Robert Kennedy’s office as supplemental: to support the gulf men- There is so much pork included in an intern. I was so impressed that, haden and Atlantic menhaden which this supplemental appropriations bill, after graduation, I drove to Chat- are characterized by a series of smaller both in the House version and in the tanooga to apply for a job as an Assist- spots behind the main, humeral spot Senate proposal, that it warranted a ant U.S. Attorney. The interview went and larger scales than yellowfin men- front-page story and editorial in USA fine until the U.S. Attorney for the haden and finescale menhaden. In addi- Today. An editorial in USA Today Eastern District of Tennessee asked tion, yellowfin menhaden tail rays are questioned: about my politics. VerDate Mar 15 2010 22:26 Mar 13, 2014 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\2007SENATE\S26MR7.REC S26MR7 mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY March 26, 2007 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3743 ‘‘I’m a Republican,’’ I said. lawyer-bashing remains fashionable in some come governor before the inauguration set ‘‘Sorry,’’ he said, ‘‘We only hire circles. by the legislature for January 20, 1979. While Democrats.’’ Despite the din of criticism, the truth is Bill Leech, a populist Democrat from Santa that our nation has looked to lawyers for ‘‘But the Attorney General said the Fe, had been in the eye of the storm before, guidance and leadership in times of crisis. he did not relish answering this question. On administration of justice was non-par- An appellate lawyer from Virginia wrote the January 3, 1979, his office issued Opinion No.

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