Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) comments on the May 12, 2010 meeting between Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and 13 northeastern members of the U.S. House and Senate.
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Transcription of Congressman Frank's statement:
"I was very pleased that a large delegation of House and Senate members, Democrats and Republicans, made it very clear to Secretary Gary Locke, who as Secretary of Commerce is in charge of the fishing apparatus of the federal government, that what Administrator Lubchenco was trying to do is unacceptable. It will visit great economic damage on the fishermen and on the fishing communities from which they fish, the flounder has to be increased, and we made it very clear to Secretary Locke, as the appointee of President Obama, that we expect much better from this administration, and I have personally made it very clear to high-ranking members of the administration, including Secretary Locke, that my relationship with the administration will be affected by whether or not they respond to this absolutely urgent need for an increase. It is one thing to impose catch shares, of which I am very skeptical, but to impose this drastically new and potentially more disruptive means of fishing allocations at the same time that there is a severe reduction in the allowable catch is a terrible mistake."