Why It Matters

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will consider a slate of bills on September 16 that touch on fisheries management, aquaculture development, and federal jawboning restrictions.

Among them is S.4749, which would create a federal cause of action against government agencies or employees that engage in jawboning, that is, the use of official government speech and informal pressure to compel private companies or individuals to take actions that the government cannot legally mandate directly. It's a concept the Supreme Court has already begun to scrutinize.

The committee will also weigh S.4938, the Bycatch Reduction Act, addressing trawl-gear impacts in Alaska fisheries, and S.2586, which concerns a NOAA assessment program for commercial-scale offshore aquaculture.

Context

Under S.4749, a cause of action would exist against government agencies or employees that engage in jawboning, regardless of whether the alleged censorship succeeds, and plaintiffs could seek monetary damages. Examples of alleged jawboning include government officials pressuring media outlets to fire commentators or federal agencies pushing social-media companies to moderate political posts. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has filed multiple amicus briefs challenging government jawboning, with some cases reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. In NRA v. Vullo, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed First Amendment restrictions on jawboning.

House companion bills H.R.9673 and H.R.9802 contain other provisions. The proposed MARA Act would enable commercial-scale demonstration projects in federal waters covering seaweed, shellfish, and finfish, but limited to species that are native or historically naturalized. NOAA says aquaculture funding may cover environmental monitoring, recirculating systems, shellfish farming, alternative aquafeeds, research on new species, and offshore aquaculture.

S.4938, the Bycatch Reduction Act, seeks to reduce trawl-gear impacts on bycatch and seafloor habitat in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. It would establish gear-performance standards, seafloor-contact detection, and salmon-excluder requirements. The bill would also seek to improve council transparency and participation, prioritize ecosystem analyses, and modernize electronic monitoring. It would prohibit unsustainable foreign seafood imports and establish a Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund.

The committee will also consider S.3467, to reauthorize the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act; S.3929, concerning certified airborne position-reference tools at air-traffic-control towers; S.4573, to designate the Great Lakes Commission as a regional Great Lakes partnership; S.5188, concerning requirements for unified boxing organizations and professional boxer well-being; S.5224, concerning training for airport drivers in movement areas at commercial-service airports; and H.R.7022, concerning transmission of emergency alerts by satellite.

The Hearing

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) chairs the committee, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) as ranking member.

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