September 24, 2013 — While federal lawmakers join the push for offering Small Business Administrations loans to fishermen, it’s encouraging to hear U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren also concede that any such package would be merely be a positive first step toward the type of relief fishermen need.
And it was nice to hear Warren renew her push for the $150 million in out-and-out emergency disaster funding through the Senate Appropriations bill that could not only provide fishermen and waterfront businesses the help they need, but show that the Department of Commerce and Congress might indeed be responsible enough to apply some money to help address the “economic disaster” that Commerce declared a year ago this month.
The idea of steering up to $150 million toward Northeast groundfishermen, including the bulk of Gloucester’s embattled fleet, is, of course, hardly new at this point. Congressman John Tierney, or instance, got behind a similar proposal in the House last winter, only to have that potential funding understandably take a priority back seat to emergency aid for communities ravaged by Superstorm Sandy.
Read the full opinion piece in the Gloucester Daily Times