Page 27 - Port of Baltimore Magazine Oct/Sept 2013
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September/October 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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held in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund,
have not been allocated,” Congressman
Harris said. “Realizing the importance
of this issue, especially to Marylanders,
I remain committed to mitigating the
damage caused by shallow boating chan-
nels and utilizing resources available to the
[Army Corps of Engineers].”
Congressman Harris said he supports
the Realize America’s Maritime Promise
(RAMP) Act, which would essentially
mandate that the Corps use those trust
fund dollars “for dredging projects instead
of holding onto the funds or using them for
other things.”
“Maryland has worked to increase
public-private partnerships, but the federal
government needs to maintain its invest-
ments in infrastructure and port security,”
Congressman Van Hollen said. “Congress
must pass a Water Resources Development
Act to continue funding the Poplar Island
environmental restoration project and
allow for continued maintenance dredging
in the Port’s shipping lanes.”
The Maryland Congressional Delegation
is working together in support of legislation
like the RAMP Act and WRDA that benefits
Maryland’s high priority dredging projects,
such as Poplar Island and Poplar Island
Expansion. They know that these dredging
projects are crucial to maintain the 50-foot
deep channels so the new Panamax ships
can reach the Port’s new 50-foot berth and
the 400-foot cranes.
Their efforts also helped the Port receive
a $10 million in federal grant through
the U.S. Department of Transportation’s
Transportation Investment Generating
Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.
When Vice President Biden visited in
September to announce that the Port had
secured the TIGER grant, he was joined
by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony
Foxx and Deputy Secretary John Porcari, as
well as Senators Cardin and Mikulski and
Congressmen Cummings, Ruppersberger
and Sarbanes.
“This investment, which will expand the
movement of freight while supporting jobs
and adding to our State’s economic growth,
is precisely the kind of improvement the
DISTRICT 5
Congressman
Steny Hoyer (D)
Ð
Minority Whip
DISTRICT 6
Congressman
John Delaney (D)
Ð
Committee on Financial
Services
Subcommittee on Financial
Institutions and Consumer
Credit
Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations
Ð
Joint Economic Committee
DISTRICT 7
Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings (D)
Ð
Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform –
Ranking Member
Ð
Committee on
Transportation and
Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Coast
Guard and Maritime
Transportation
Subcommittee on Highways
and Transit
Ð
Joint Economic Committee
Ð
Congressional Ports
Opportunity, Renewal, Trade
and Security (PORTS) Caucus
DISTRICT 8
Congressman
Chris Van Hollen (D)
Ð
Committee on Budget –
Ranking Member
Ð
Congressional Ports
Opportunity, Renewal, Trade
and Security (PORTS)
Caucus
TIGER program was created to make,”
Congressman Cummings said that day.
“I’m on the Appropriations Committee,”
said Chairwoman Mikulski, “and we’ve put
the Port in the federal checkbook.”
“We appreciate the grant today, we’re
going to work for funding tomorrow and
we’re going to keep at it,” Senator Mikulski
said. “We’re going to keep at it by working
with President Barack Obama and his team
to make sure that we’re number one in in-
frastructure and number one in the world.”
But the Senator also noted that it takes
more than dollars to make a business
successful.
“We’re proud of the men and women
of the Port of Baltimore — the tugboat
operators, the longshoremen, the crane
operators, the truckers, all of those who
every day in every way are out there
working hard, sweating to get the job done,
to make sure that we send cargo out there
and unload cargo back here,” Senator
Mikulski said.
Ð
