Don't Leave the Great Lakes Region Out

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the Biden administration to launch the Great Lakes Authority as passed by Congress last year. Don't leave our region out.

For decades, the Great Lakes watershed, the largest body of freshwater on Earth, has endured atypical economic stress, job loss due to disastrous trade policies, underinvestment, and major deindustrialization.

Now, with Democratic economic recovery initiatives that passed in the last 3 years, our region is beginning to see major reinvestment, starting with the long-delayed Soo Locks modernization so vital to our ports and maritime trade.

For decades and decades, the Great Lakes region lacked authorization for a regional development instrumentality that might begin to emulate the success of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Now, coupling the Great Lakes authority with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, our region stands poised for new investment in good-paying jobs and economic opportunity to turbocharge revitalization.

Our need is no different than the TVA, which for nearly 100 years has uplifted that formerly neglected region. All our Great Lakes region asks the Biden administration for is equal footing. Don't leave us out.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source