WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released a letter written to Senators from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the President’s need to appoint a new Secretary of Commerce. With the letter – attached – Frank added the following statement.
“I have been disappointed by the failure of Secretary of Commerce Locke to respond to the legitimate concerns of those of us who represent fishing communities. The pending appointment of a new Secretary of Commerce gives us, particularly the Senate Members who will be voting on his or her confirmation, an opportunity to establish some understandings at the outset of the new Secretary’s tenure.
I believe we should work together on the same bicameral and bipartisan basis on which we have worked in the past to formulate a set of requests to the new Secretary regarding fishing regulation, especially on the East Coast, to which we could reasonable expect him or her to agree. The confirmation process is the ideal opportunity for us to do this and I will be working with my House and Senate colleagues to see that we maximize our ability to take advantage of it.”