WASHINGTON — April 3, 2014 — The following was released by the office of Congressman William Keating (MA-9):
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 4005, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014, which reauthorizes funding for the US Coast Guard for fiscal years 2015 and 2016. Included in the legislation was a Keating Amendment that reauthorized critical fishing safety training grant programs.
“Currently, commercial fishing is ranked as one of the deadliest jobs in America according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,” said Rep. Bill Keating. “I represent a coastal district where fishing is a vital part of our economy and we need training programs to ensure our fishermen are safe and fatalities are avoided. Some steps are as simple as teaching our fishermen basic safety skills. And the benefit is not just to our fishermen; these programs will save search and rescue and environmental cleanup costs. This historic industry has suffered setback after setback in recent years and these programs are an important step to getting it back on track.”
The Fishing Safety Training and Fishing Safety Research grant programs, which seek to provide further access to training resources, as well as research on technologies and tools that would enhance safety on fishing boats, were first established in the 2010 U.S. Coast Guard authorization. Rep. Keating has long fought for both of these grant programs to be funded at a level of $3 million. He has lobbied and led letters to both the Administration and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees on this matter. In response, the legislation passed yesterday included the Keating Amendment, which had bipartisan support and extended the authorization for the two programs at the level requested by the Congressman.
Rep. Keating will continue his fight to fund these safety programs through both FY2015 appropriations and his own bill, H.R. 4025, the Fishing Safety Training and Research Act. He introduced this legislation to extend authorization for both safety training programs through 2025.