WASHINGTON, D. C. – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker today welcomed Senate committee approval of Mississippi-related bills that will rename the North Mississippi National Wildlife Refuges Complex, name the new FBI facility in Jackson and create an environmental collaboration program office focused on the Gulf Coast.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today approved the three Mississippi measures on a voice vote, clearing the bills for consideration by the full Senate.  The bills approved Wednesday include:
• S.3354 – authored by Cochran and cosponsored by Wicker to name the North Mississippi National Wildlife Refuges Complex for the late Sam D. Hamilton;
• HR.3562 – authored by Representative Bennie Thompson to name the FBI building in Jackson for civil rights workers killed in Mississippi in 1964, and amended to include the name of the FBI agent who investigated their murders; and,
• S.1311, The Gulf of Mexico Restoration and Protection Act – authored by Wicker and cosponsored by Cochran to establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Gulf of Mexico Program Office;

“I am pleased the Committee was receptive to these measures to honor people who have affected Mississippi’s past, as well as its future,” Cochran said.  “Sam Hamilton dedicated himself to ensuring the preservation and restoration of important ecosystems and wildlife habitats in Mississippi and throughout the South.  In a different but also significant way, our state was changed by the lives of the slain civil rights workers and Roy K. Moore, who secured justice for their tragic deaths.”

“I applaud the committee for passing these bills. The naming of the new FBI building is a fitting tribute to the memories of the three murdered civil rights works and the FBI agent who helped investigate their murders and was instrumental in the Bureau’s civil rights work in Mississippi. The Gulf of Mexico Restoration and Protection Act will help ensure long-term coordination between the EPA and our Gulf Coast states, which is vital as we recover from this oil spill,” Wicker said.

S.3354 would lead to the designation of the “Sam D. Hamilton North Mississippi National Wildlife Refuges Complex,” incorporating the Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge, Tallahatchie National Wildlife Refuge, Cold Water National Wildlife Refuge and Bear Lake Unit.  Hamilton, who passed away unexpectedly in February, was a Starkville native whom the Senate confirmed in 2009 as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

HR.3562 moved forward with broad support by the Mississippi congressional delegation.  Under an agreement reached by Cochran, Wicker, Thompson and other members of the delegation, the House-passed bill was amended to include the name of Roy K. Moore, who established the first FBI field office in Jackson and led the FBI investigation into the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.  As amended, the legislation would designate the Jackson FBI Building as the “James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and Roy K. Moore Federal Building.”

In addition to creating an EPA Gulf of Mexico Program Office, S.1311 would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to expand cooperative efforts to monitor, restore and protect the resource productivity, water quality and marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

With Senate approval of HR.3562, the amended measure would again need approval from the House of Representatives before it could be sent to President Obama to be signed into law.  S.3354 and S.1311 also require House passage before they can become law.

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