Executive Session
10:00 AM
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold an executive session on Wednesday, February 28, at 10:00 a.m. to consider the following legislative measure and nominations.
Click here for additional information on nominees.
Agenda:
1. S. 1520, Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017, Sponsors: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Deb Fisher (R-Neb.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Todd Young (R-Ind.)
2. Nomination of Joseph Simons, of Virginia, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner, Chairman Designate
3. Nomination of Noah Joshua Phillips, of Maryland, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner
4. Nomination of Christine Wilson, of Virginia, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner
5. Nomination of Rohit Chopra, of New York, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner
*Agenda subject to change
Executive Session Details:
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Full Committee Markup
Senate Dirksen Building, Room 106
Results of the markup can be found here.
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Majority Statement
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Chairman John Thune
Majority Statement
Chairman John Thune
Good morning. Thank you all for being here for what should be a very quick markup, as I know many of us are planning to go to the ceremony honoring Billy Graham.
First, we will consider four qualified nominees for the Federal Trade Commission – Joseph Simons, Noah Joshua Phillips, Christine Wilson, and Rohit Chopra.
I was impressed with each of them at our recent confirmation hearing, and I am confident they will all work to protect consumers from anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.
We are still awaiting the nomination of the fifth and final Commissioner, but I am hopeful it will be coming soon and am committed to considering the nominee expeditiously.
We will also consider Senator Wicker’s Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act today.
Recreational fishing is enjoyed by Americans everywhere, even in South Dakota, and plays an important part in America’s economy and cultural heritage.
Overall, this bill recognizes the importance of recreational fishing and provides decision-makers the ability to take into account the needs of both recreational and commercial fishers in managing fish stocks that are important to both, while also improving data collection.
With that, I will turn to Senator Nelson for any opening remarks.
Minority Statement
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Bill Nelson
Minority Statement
Bill Nelson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we will be considering the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act.
This bipartisan bill makes targeted changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to enhance and improve the management of recreational fisheries in federal waters.
Recreational fishermen in Florida have an annual economic impact of around eight billion dollars and supply over 100,000 jobs. This bill will directly benefit these fishermen and support this important industry.
I’m glad that we have been able to address many of our members’ concerns with the bill in the substitute amendment. However, I understand that a few members may have some outstanding concerns, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as this bill moves forward.
Switching gears to the nominations for the FTC. As we saw with nominations for other independent commissions, the White House has again chosen to give a Democratic nominee the shortest term possible, while giving Republican nominees longer terms.
These commissions were set up to be balanced, and exercise professional – not political – judgements. Sadly, this just takes us down the road to further polarization of these agencies and is truly disappointing.
Finally, it was very troubling to read in this morning’s Washington Post that four Commerce Department political appointees working on interim security clearances lost their jobs because their background checks revealed they should not be given access to classified information. The department deals with a number of extremely sensitive issues. It would be fitting for the committee to urge the Inspector General to investigate this serious matter and whether it impacted national security.
