Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my friend Mr. Boustany's amendment. I think it's a good step forward. Spending all the money that's in the cash that we take in is in the best interest of maintaining our harbors. But I think we need to take another step. I hope I can get Mr. Boustany and others to help.

We need a solution that helps all our ports, like those on the west coast, those in Pennsylvania, those in Massachusetts that pay the tax. We collect $20 on every can that comes across the dock, and we don't get any money because we don't dredge. We've got a 70-foot draft, but we do have problems with our seawall. We have big infrastructure needs all across, and nearly half the money that's raised never is spent in the port where it is raised.

Now, we compete with international ports. We compete with Vancouver, and the Canadians are putting in a port at Prince Rupert, and we need to maintain our ports to be competitive in this very, very competitive industry.

We have a good geographic location. We're close to Asia, but they're going other places because they've got better ports. That's our issue, and we would like to have some money later on.

Thank you very much. I support the amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source