Investing in Our Infrastructure

Floor Speech

Mr. PETERS of California. Mr. Speaker, many will be hurt by the sequester, but San Diego will be hurt in particular. Today, I'm here to urge Congress to work together to find a bipartisan solution to sequestration.

The Port of San Diego is our window to national and international commerce, as well as a main driver of our economy. The Port of San Diego is the fourth largest port in California, and one of 17 commercial strategic ports in America, overseeing two maritime cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, and hundreds of maritime leases to small businesses.

Since 2001, the port has received almost $22 million in Federal funding for critical infrastructure projects, which has allowed the port to hire more San Diegans and boost San Diego's economy. The American Society of Engineers found that with an additional investment of $15.8 billion between now and 2020, our national system of ports could provide $270 billion in U.S. exports and $697 billion in GDP.

Now is not the time to be cutting critical investments in our infrastructure. Let's work together to find a solution.

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