Hearing

Opening remarks, a prepared, of Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-AR):

I’m happy we have such a diverse panel so that we can gain their perspectives on the issues facing ports, harbors, and inland waterways, as well as their stakeholders and users.  I especially want to thank Ms. Phyllis Harden for her participation here today.  She is a constituent of mine who was recently inducted into the Arkansas River Hall of Fame. 

The needs of our ports, harbors, and inland waterways are substantial, and they continue to grow.

Oceangoing vessels carry more merchandise trade to and from the United States than all other modes of transportation combined.  My home state of Arkansas is third in the Nation in the number of inland waterway miles – one of only 24 states in the United States to have the unique resource of inland waterways.  Major products that move on Arkansas waterways include grains, steel, fertilizers, petroleum and petroleum products, aggregates, paper, and wood products, among others.  This means there is a very good chance that everything from the bread for your sandwiches to the components of your car were carried at some point on a waterway.

Yet more often than not, our ports and inland waterways are not maintained to their fully authorized widths and depths, severely jeopardizing our way of life, competitiveness, American jobs, and the communities that depend on them.

In order to address the maintenance of our ports, Congress enacted the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) for the purpose of covering dredging costs.  The tax is directly levied on importers and domestic shippers using coastal or inland ports, and deposited into a trust fund within the Treasury.

However, for too long more tax revenue has been collected annually than Congress has appropriated.  And because of this fact, a balance has been accruing that currently stands at approximately 10 billion dollars – enough to address our currently authorized maintenance needs if spent down.  That Congress has allowed this to persist, as our needs only continue to grow, represents a problem in dire need of a solution.

This Committee has twice, in recent years, passed measures that would dedicate the taxes to their intended purposes – and I look forward to continue working to solve this problem.

But it is not just our ports that are in need, but also the structures that support the inland waterways system which require maintenance, repair, and upgrade.  Over half of the inland waterways structures are more than 50 years old, and nearly 40 percent are more than 70 years old.  Many of these projects are approaching the end of their design lives.

The upper Mississippi alone, from St. Louis to the headwaters in Minnesota's Lake Itasca, generates almost $600 billion in annual economic activity and is used to transport 60% of all grain products in America, the world's number-one grain producer. 

As the amount of goods traveling on the inland system is expected to increase by more than 20% by 2050, we must continue to invest in this vital system – the risk of failure is too great.  

It is critical that as we work to address our infrastructure challenges this Congress, our ports, harbors, and inland waterways are not left behind.  I look forward to hearing the witnesses’ perspectives and solutions to address our water resources infrastructure needs.