Harder Push to Ease Port Backlogs & Lower Prices Passes the House

Press Release

Today, Representative Josh Harder's bipartisan push to create an interagency task force to ease port backlogs and lower prices for Central Valley families passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Harder's bipartisan legislation was originally introduced with Rep. Michelle Steel as the Supply Chain Taskforce Act.Today, key provisions of the bill were included in the Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2022 which passed the House on a bipartisan basis.

The Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force will now:

- Evaluate and quantify the economic and environmental impact of cargo backlogs;
- Evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by each Federal agency represented on the Task Force, and by State and local governments, due to such cargo backlogs;
- Evaluate the responses of each such Federal agency to such cargo backlogs; and
- Develop a plan to significantly reduce or eliminate the cargo backlogs and delays that have plagued our nation's ports, slowed down deliveries, and increased costs for consumers.

"I'm laser focused on lowering prices for Central Valley families, and getting our ports moving again is a huge piece of that puzzle," said Rep. Harder. "Today, I was proud to see our efforts to ensure we address the supply chain pass the House with bipartisan support. Now it's time to get this bill signed into law, get our ports moving, and get prices down for everyone in the Valley."

"The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles move 40% of all shipping containers entering the U.S., and the backlog at these ports is contributing to the growing supply chain crisis and skyrocketing price of goods," said Rep. Steel. "Orange County families are tired of seeing cargo ships idling off the coastline, and our bipartisan proposal would help get to the root of this crisis. I urge the Senate to swiftly take up this legislation so our taskforce can get signed into law and provide families with relief."

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