[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 99 (Thursday, July 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 9, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2609) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Chair, I represent areas of North and 
East Harris County and Houston, including a large portion of the Port 
of Houston and the Houston Ship Channel. Water development projects at 
the Army Corps of Engineers are critical to our economy and to our 
safety. We rely on flood control and dredging projects in the Houston /
Harris County, Texas area. Flood control projects protect lives and 
property every year in our district. However, without adequate Army 
Corps money, necessary maintenance and new projects will be neglected 
putting our area at risk.
  The Energy and Water Appropriations bill is important to us. This 
bill needs to provide more funding for the Army Corps.
  The Port of Houston is the largest foreign tonnage port and the 
largest petrochemical port in the country. In fact, it moves the second 
largest amount of cargo in the country, as 8.5% of our nation's cargo 
moves through the Port of Houston. The commerce that occurs at our port 
is critical to our nation's energy and chemical sectors and to our 
country's ability to trade and move goods throughout our country. It is 
a port of national significance, but has not received the attention 
that is necessary to answer the challenges we face in the near future.
  Despite the national importance of our port, it is facing a dredging 
crisis.
  The President's budget request funded dredging at the Port at around 
half the actual need. The Energy and Water Appropriations bill doesn't 
even get us to the President's request level. Infrastructure is a key 
component of commerce and it is time the House of Representatives 
starts passing legislation recognizing this important fact.
  Additionally, by cutting New Starts completely, this bill prevents 
funding for a vital project in Houston that will explore widening and 
deepening the shipping channel to the Turning Basin. This funding is 
critical to preparing our Port for the years ahead.
  In 1998, the Federal Government and the Port of Houston invested $700 
million over the course of years, to deepen and widen the Ship Channel. 
An investment we have benefitted from tremendously.
  As the years have passed silt has settled and reduced the draft in 
the channel significantly. Today, only a small portion of the channel 
is dredged to its proper depth across the entire width of the channel. 
That is astounding. Our nation's investment is rapidly deteriorating. 
Currently, the Houston Ship Channel is dredged to a depth of 43 feet, 
but it should be 45 feet. The Panama Canal is expanding and when it is 
completed, the Port of Houston should be at a minimum of 45 feet and we 
could take advantage of additional depth.
  As we confront the dual challenges of adopting policies that create 
jobs and reduce the debt, funding for dredging projects is an item 
that, while costly, will have more of a positive impact on our economy 
than a negative impact on our deficit. The Texas Transportation 
Institute performed a study and determined that a direct economic 
impact of the loss of 1 foot of draft is $373 million. The majority of 
this impact is lost business opportunities due to light loading of non-
containerized vessels. As the dredging crisis at the port continues to 
worsen, the opportunity cost will quickly increase.
  The time to increase our investment in our infrastructure is now. We 
can't wait until the economy improves because strengthening our 
infrastructure is integral to growing our economy.

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