; purposes (a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The ocean and coastal waters of the United States are foundational to the economy, security, global competitiveness, and well-being of the United States and continuously serve the people of the United States and other countries as an important source of food, energy, economic productivity, recreation, beauty, and enjoyment. (2) Over many years, the resource productivity and water quality of the ocean and coastal areas of the United States have been diminished by pollution, increasing population demands, economic development, and natural and man-made hazard events, both acute and chronic. (3) Ocean and coastal areas of the United States are managed by State and Federal resource agencies and regulated by various overlapping authorities, thereby creating a significant need for coordination to enhance the ecological and economic health of those areas. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to attain coordination of the efforts relating to the management, conservation, resilience, and restoration of ocean and coastal areas to reduce duplication of efforts and maximize efficiencies through collaborative regional efforts by Regional Ocean Partnerships, in consultation with Federal agencies and State and local authorities. (c) Purposes The purposes of this Act are as follows: (1) To expand and strengthen cooperative voluntary efforts intended to manage and restore ocean and coastal areas spanning across multiple State boundaries. (2) To expand Federal support for monitoring, data management, and restoration activities in ocean and coastal areas. (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, all coastal ecosystems. (4) To authorize Regional Ocean Partnerships as coordinators of Federal and State authorities relating to voluntary efforts for the collaborative management of the large marine