This was a vote on passage of a bill authorizing $50 million to be spent annually (through 2016) on a program to restore estuaries. (Estuaries are coastal bodies of water in which fresh water --such as from rivers or streams -- mix with salt water from the sea.)

Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN) -- the chairman of the committee that drafted the measure -- urged support for the bill, arguing that protecting estuaries was in the national interest: "An impaired estuary is bad for commercial and recreational fishing, results in depleted fisheries, decreased tourism revenues, and deteriorated property values. In addition, because of deterioration of the estuary and the borderland around it, we've seen increased flooding, shoreline erosion, damaged infrastructure, particularly when storms occur, which happens every year."

Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) -- the only member to speak against the bill during general debate time -- argued that while estuaries were important, increases in funding may not be justified: "I note that H.R. 4715 increases the authorized level of funding by 43 percent from $35 million per year to $50 million a year. The average appropriation over the past 5 years for this program has been only $26.8 million. While I support the National Estuary Program and improvements made here in H.R. 4715, I know many of my colleagues, as well as myself, are concerned about increasing authorized levels of spending for programs when Congress has not been able to fund the program close to its current authorization."

The House passed the estuaries bill by a vote of 278-128. 240 Democrats and 38 Republicans voted "yea." 126 Republicans and 2 Democrats voted "nay." As a result, the House passed legislation authorizing $50 million to be spent annually on a program to restore estuaries.