From Senator Maria Cantwell:

Clean Boating Act Protects Washington State Boaters and Preserves Environment
 
Last week, I applauded passage of two pieces of legislation I co-sponsored: the Clean Boating Act of 2008 and a companion bill concerning commercial vessels. 

The Clean Boating Act clarifies current law to protect recreational boaters from federal permitting requirements for normal boat discharges like deck runoff.  The bill also directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop reasonable management practices to lessen the impact of those discharges. Washington’s boaters need healthy waters, and our waters need the care and support of boaters to stay healthy. These bills clarify the law to protect boaters from unnecessary government red-tape, while preserving the integrity of the Clean Water Act and important environmental protections
 
The companion bill on commercial vessels creates a temporary, two-year moratorium against similar permit requirements for fishing vessels and small commercial vessels under 79 feet in length.  Hazardous discharges such as oil, raw sewage, garbage and other pollutants are already covered by separate regulations not impacted by this legislation.
 
Devastating Mississippi River Oil Spill Near New Orleans
 
Last Wednesday, a tragic oil spill in the Mississippi River near New Orleans released roughly 420,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the river and surrounding marshland.  This oil spill is another wake-up call of how vulnerable our waterways and coastlines are to oil spills. All it takes is a single tragic incident to devastate a whole region’s coastal environment and economy.  This incident highlights the improvements we need to make to our nation’s oil spill prevention and response capabilities, and senators who have been obstructing legislation to address these problems should reconsider their irresponsible actions. Last June, I reintroduced the Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act, which would make critically needed updates to the landmark Oil Pollution Act of 1990 – which was enacted following the tragic Exxon Valdez oil spill.  The bill would improve oil spill prevention and response, and implement long sought-after environmental safeguards to protect America’s waterways from contamination.  Numerous provisions from this bill are also included in the Coast Guard Authorization Act, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee nearly one year ago and is now being blocked by a small number of Republican Senators.
 
Congress Passes Long Overdue Housing Bill
 
This past weekend, I voted to send the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to President Bush for his signature. This much needed legislation will help homeowners on the verge of foreclosure, will restore confidence in our financial markets, and will help our struggling communities recover from the recent housing crisis. As Americans in Washington state and across the country continue to worry about a weakening economy and unstable housing market, this legislation will begin the process of putting these worries to rest.  Americans are enduring sleepless nights worried about how to make ends meet as they watch the economy continue to weaken. I am pleased to say that Congress stepped up and worked in a bipartisan way to give these families some relief and begin to address some of the underlying causes of our housing and financial crisis.  For months, we have heard heartbreaking stories of hardworking families facing foreclosure, and communities facing the fall-out from the deteriorating economy. The legislation we are sending to the President offers real solutions for Main Street, not just Wall Street.

While we focus on the challenges that homeowners currently face, we cannot, at the same time, fail to recognize that there are a lot of families who do not dare dream of owning their own home; they dream simply of having access to safe, affordable rental housing in our communities. Because of current conditions in the financial markets, the development of many affordable housing units has come to a screeching halt. For the hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable neighbors and homeowners who must now turn to rental housing, the homes they can afford are diminishing at an alarming pace. I worked hard to ensure that this bill did not ignore this need, and am proud that the legislation includes provisions that I championed to encourage the continued development of affordable rental housing.
 
Wall Street Got Drunk, Now Middle Class Americans Suffer the Hangover
 
Last Thursday, I spoke on the Senate floor about the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008, and the need for Congress to learn from deregulation failures of our nation’s past. While ‘Wall Street got drunk,’ it's really middle class Americans who now are suffering the hangover. More than 80 percent of Americans believe that oil commodities speculators are manipulating the price of oil, and more than two thirds of Americans want Congress to re-regulate these critical markets. During the past decade, the financial industry has repeated some of the excesses that our country went through during the 1930s and the Savings and Loans disasters, highlighting the failures our experiments with deregulation.  I wonder when we are going to learn these lessons and stop deregulating critical sectors of our economy.  We must act now to correct the market failures brought on by deregulation.
 
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008, to address excessive speculation in the oil futures markets that some experts believe are adding $30 - $60 per barrel of oil.  The bill adopted many of the ideas that I have worked hard on for months to bring more transparency and oversight over the oil and gas markets. On June 12, I introduced the Policing United States Oil Commodities Market Act of 2008 along with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), which would shed light on dark markets where some oil futures are traded.  On June 23, I introduced the Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act, which takes a comprehensive approach to address the loopholes that allow energy traders to evade federal oversight.  And earlier this month, she joined Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in introducing the Commodity Speculation Reform Act to add transparency to futures markets and close the door to excessive speculation by tightening key investment laws and clarifying the oversight mission of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Many of these provisions were included in the Stop Excessive Speculation Act.
 
Congratulating Dave Niehaus on a Job Well Done
 
This weekend I took to the Senate floor to congratulate Seattle Mariner broadcaster Dave Niehaus on his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dave’s signature call of “My oh my!” now finally joins the ranks of Harry Caray’s “Holy Cow!”, Mel Allen’s “Going, going, gone”, and Vin Scully’s “I caaaan’t believe it!”  For 32 seasons Dave has been the voice of not only the Seattle Mariners, but of the entire Seattle sports scene. He has been in the broadcasting booth from the team’s first game in 1977 and next year will broadcast his 5,000th Mariner game--an incredible milestone in itself. Dave does a lot more than just call a game. He breathes new life into each inning, regardless of the score. Northwest sports fans have been given many great memories by Dave Niehaus.