[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 236 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 236

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on fully spending 
  the receipts of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund on United States 
          ports and harbors each year, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2013

  Ms. Hahn (for herself, Mr. Poe of Texas, and Ms. Brown of Florida) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                  on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on fully spending 
  the receipts of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund on United States 
          ports and harbors each year, and for other purposes.

Whereas ports and harbors play a vital role in the United States economy;
Whereas ports move 2.3 billion tons of cargo a year in the United States;
Whereas the United States assesses a harbor maintenance tax of approximately 
        $1.6 billion a year on goods imported through the Nation's ports for the 
        express purpose of keeping United States ports strong;
Whereas only a fraction of the harbor maintenance tax has been spent on 
        maintaining the Nation's harbors;
Whereas the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has built a surplus of over $8 
        billion, even as United States ports and harbors are egregiously 
        undermaintained and underdredged, reducing the Nation's competitiveness 
        in the world and increasing costs for businesses and consumers; and
Whereas the failure to spend the receipts of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund 
        to keep the Nation's ports and harbors strong breaks a trust with the 
        people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commits itself to fully spending the receipts of the 
        Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund on United States ports and 
        harbors each year;
            (2) affirms that the surplus in the Harbor Maintenance 
        Trust Fund should be spent down to zero on the Nation's ports 
        and harbors as soon as possible; and
            (3) urges United States ports and the Corps of Engineers to 
        make all necessary preparations for the expansion and 
        acceleration of port and harbor dredging to be made possible by 
        100 percent use of the receipts of the Harbor Maintenance Trust 
        Fund.
                                 <all>