; purposes (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Gulf of Mexico is a valuable resource of national and international importance, continuously serving the people of the United States and other countries as an important source of food, economic productivity, recreation, beauty, and enjoyment. (2) Over many years, the resource productivity and water quality of the Gulf of Mexico and its watershed have been diminished by point and nonpoint source pollution, increasing population demands, economic development, and natural and man-made hazard events. (3) The protection of the Gulf of Mexico regional ecosystem has been traditionally underserved and overlooked compared to other great water bodies of the United States, even though the region accounts for 17 percent of United States gross domestic product and would rank as the 7th largest economy in the world. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to attain coordination of the protection and restoration efforts of the Gulf of Mexico in order to reduce duplication of efforts and maximize efficiencies through a collaborative regional effort by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, in consultation with Federal agencies and State and local authorities. (c) Purposes The purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act are as follows: (1) To expand and strengthen cooperative voluntary efforts to protect and restore the Gulf of Mexico. (2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, management, and restoration activities in the Gulf of Mexico and its watershed. (3) To commit the United States to a comprehensive cooperative program to achieve improved water quality in, and improvements in the productivity of living resources of, the Gulf of Mexico. (4) To establish a Gulf of Mexico Alliance to coordinate Federal and State authorities with other voluntary efforts for the collaborative management of the large marine ecosystem, thereby reducing duplication of efforts and maximizing opportunities to leverage restoration support