March 17, 2011 – Congressman Frank Wednesday released a letter he'd written to 12 senators who represent Northeast fishing states. The letter, in formal Senate language, did what is commonly referred to on the street as putting the screws to someone.
Frank told the senators they should use the appointment of a new Commerce secretary as an opportunity to make sure the fisheries never suffer a Gary Locke again.
Locke will have a hard enough time convincing Kerry of his even-handedness, but Frank has an even bigger fish in mind for his trawl net.
Frank told the senators from North Carolina to Maine that they needed to appoint a friend of Northeast fishermen as the next Commerce secretary.
"Many of us have been dissatisfied with the failure of the secretary of Commerce to exercise his supervisory authority over NOAA, and respond to the legitimate concerns of the people we represent," Frank wrote.
Translation: Gary Locke never cracked down on Jane Lubchenco and the extreme environmentalists. You better appoint a new Commerce secretary who tells Lubchenco what to do rather than vice versa.
Read the complete column by Jack Spillane at The South Coast Today.