SA 893. Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, and Mr. Begich) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill H.R. 2112, making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 108, between lines 22 and 23, insert the following:
Sec. 114. (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the "Emergency Response, Research, and Management: Stopping the Spread of the Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus Act".
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Salmon are a keystone species, sustaining more than 180 other species in freshwater and marine ecosystems.
(2) Salmon are a central part of the culture, economy, and environment of Western North America.
(3) Economic activities relating to salmon generate billions of dollars of economic activity and provide tens of thousands of jobs.
(4) Infectious salmon anemia poses a risk to wild and hatchery salmon populations and therefore threatens--
(A) commercial, tribal, and recreational salmon fishery jobs;
(B) ecosystems which rely on healthy salmonid populations; and
(C) ecosystem based processes which rely on healthy salmon populations.
(c) Research.--
(1) RESEARCH COORDINATION.--The National Aquatic Animal Health Task Force shall coordinate research, monitoring, and reporting efforts of infectious salmon anemia in the waterways of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho.
(2) RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.--The Task Force shall establish infectious salmon anemia research objectives to assess--
(A) the prevalence of infectious salmon anemia in both wild and aquaculture salmonid populations throughout Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho;
(B) genetic susceptibility by population and species;
(C) susceptibility of populations to infectious salmon anemia from geographic and oceanographic factors;
(D) potential transmission pathways between infectious Canadian sockeye and uninfected salmonid populations in United States waters;
(E) management strategies to rapidly respond to potential infectious salmon anemia outbreaks in both wild and aquaculture populations, including securing the water supplies at conservation hatcheries to protect hatchery fish from exposure to the infectious salmon anemia virus present in incoming surface water;
(F) potential economic impacts of infectious salmon anemia;
(G) any role foreign salmon farms may have in spreading the disease to wild populations;
(H) the identity of any potential Federal, State, tribal, and international research partners; and
(I) other infectious salmon anemia research priorities, as determined by the Task Force.
(3) RESEARCH COLLABORATION.--The Task Force shall--
(A) collaborate with the Government of Canada and Federal, State, and tribal governments to acquire baseline data and to carry out the research objectives described in paragraph (2); and
(B) collaborate for such purposes with the Department of Fish and Wildlife of Washington and the Department of Fish and Game of Alaska.
(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Aquatic Animal Health Task Force shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report of the findings of the research objectives described in subsection (c)(2).


(As printed in the Congressional Record for the Senate on Oct 19, 2011.)