Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, H.R. 2560, Mr. Keating's Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, would establish a Federal grant program to support response and rehabilitation efforts for federally protected endangered sea turtles.

As my colleague across the aisle mentioned, all six of the species of sea turtles in the U.S. are either threatened or endangered, and human activities, such as urban development, accidental capture, vessel strikes, and marine debris entanglement, are causing increasing sea turtle strandings. A stranded sea turtle is defined as one that has been found either dead or still alive but unable to go about its normal behavior due to injury or illness.

As a result of more frequent stranding events, the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network was created. This is a coalition of 50 Federal, State, and private partners that responds to stranded sea turtles and collects information to help us better protect and ultimately save them.

Now, NOAA Fisheries oversees the coordination of this network, but it is the dedicated local organizations that actively respond to stranded turtles. They gather crucial scientific data, facilitate the transportation of sick and injured turtles to rehabilitation centers, and play a pivotal role in educating the public about the importance of sea turtle conservation. I am pleased that we are here today supporting these efforts.

The legislation before us would create a grant program that funds the recovery, care, and treatment of stranded marine turtles, as well as the collection of stranding data for scientific research and facility operating costs.

This act is a step in the right direction for our national efforts to recover our endangered sea turtle populations, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. I represent the great Point Reyes National Seashore on the West Coast, and Mr. Keating represents our East Coast brother seashore, sister seashore in Cape Cod.

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Mr. HUFFMAN. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' and yield back the balance of my time.

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