PORTS Caucus Presses for Hill Hearing on Harbor Trust Fund
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee should hold a hearing on the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, as a first step towards improving the utilization of those funds, said the co-chairs of the Congressional PORTS Caucus, in a letter to the chair and ranking member of that committee. Reps. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, said the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund has been building a surplus for years, reaching a multi-billion-dollar surplus. At the same time, they said, "many ports across the nation have suffered from lack of investment. Common sense says there is a better way to manage and spend the trust fund, but we have not yet done what we need to fix it."
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The PORTS Caucus will have its first meeting of the 113th Congress to discuss options to improve the utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund later this month, they said: "We know this issue holds the promise of true, bipartisan progress on a vital infrastructure matter. ... At stake is not only the strength and reliability of our nation's ports and harbors, but the strength and reliability of the economic activity that flows through those gateways and creates jobs in every corner of the nation."