The U.S. Coast Guard’s $10 billion two-year appropriations bill, that has passed Congress and awaits the President’s signature, has been named The Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act. In naming the Act for the retiring New Jersey Congressman, House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster acknowledged Congressman LoBiondo’s 24 years of advocacy for the Coast Guard. Congressman LoBiondo’s District includes the Coast Guard’s Cape May Training Center and the Guard’s Atlantic City Air Station.
The bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support, provides $7.9 billion for operating expenses and $2.9 billion for construction, renovation, and improvement of facilities. It will also provide regulatory relief for New Jersey commercial fishermen, by eliminating the requirement that commercial fishing vessels must meet both Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discharge limits.
Congressman LoBiondo was also recently honored as a conservation champion by environmental groups in his District, in a ceremony held at The Nature Conservancy’s South Cape May Meadows Preserve. The Congressman was able to secure federal support for the Preserve, during his tenure in the Capitol.
In the months after Superstorm Sandy devastated our State, Congressman LoBiondo was a harsh critic of his own Party’s Leadership for their delays in advancing emergency assistance to citizens and local governments in New Jersey and other suffering States.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njslom.org, 609-695-3481 x121.