Ahead of House Vote, Rep. Courtney Urges Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Preserve the Long Island Sound

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today on the House Floor, Rep. Joe Courtney, Co-Chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus,urgedhis colleagues to support the bipartisan Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Reauthorization Act of 2023, co-led by Courtney and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY). The House is expected to pass the bill this evening, following its bipartisan passage out of Committee last month.

The bill would reauthorize the Environmental Protection Agency's Long Island Sound Program through 2028 to ensure the protection and preservation of the Sound.

View and download the remarks here.

Full Transcript

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5441, the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Reauthorization Act of 2023, which I introduced as the lead Democratic sponsor along with my Republican colleague and Long Island Sound Caucus Co-Chair, Nick LaLota from New York. This overdue bipartisan bill, which will be voted on this evening, reauthorizes critical Long Island Sound program funding, which expired at the end of the 2023 fiscal year.

Congress must reauthorize this important program as soon as possible to ensure that federal funds can continue to preserve and protect this unique body of water in the most densely populated area of our country. Mr. Speaker, Long Island Sound is a national treasure. It is a tidal estuary that stretches 110 miles west to east from the East River in New York City to Black Island Sound in Rhode Island. Its depth ranges from 65 feet to 230 feet, allowing transit for large and small ocean-going vessels.

Eighteen freshwater rivers flow into its salt waters, inducing an abundant array of plant life, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and birds. It has been inhabited by humans for centuries before European settlement up to the present. Now more than 20 million Americans live within an hour's drive from its shores.

It is also a powerful engine to the region's economy, including maritime transportation, commercial and recreational fishing, ecotourism, and other water dependent industries, including shipbuilding.

Submarine construction at Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, in my district in southeastern Connecticut, employs 16,000 workers and another 7,000 at Quonset Point in Rhode Island. With all of that activity, it is clear an organized effort is required to sustain the Long Island Sound economy in a way that balances growth with its core natural coastal habitat.

To respond to this need, Congress passed the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act, which provided federal dollars going back to 2006 for projects to revitalize the wildlife population. In 2018, Congress reauthorized that law and greatly expanded the annual investment to $40 million per year. Thanks to that funding, the amount of nitrogen entering Long Island Sound from sewage treatment plants has been reduced by 70 percent compared to the 1990s. Hypoxic conditions have been reduced by 58% compared to the 1990s. And over 2,239 acres of coastal habitat have been restored and [570] conservation projects have been funded.

Due to the advocacy of Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Long Island Sound received $40 million in both 2023 and 2024, the largest funding level in the history of the program. Mr. Speaker, to ensure that Congress can continue to support this amazing success, we must move quickly tonight and pass H.R. 5441. Again, I want to thank my fellow caucus co-chair Rep. Nick LaLota and the Natural Resources Committee for their leadership in moving this bill forward and urge my colleagues to vote in support.

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