Heidi Alexander: “I thank the Senator from Iowa. Inland Waterways Trust Fund Fee Increase Mr. President, the House of Representatives is…”

“I thank the Senator from Iowa. Inland Waterways Trust Fund Fee Increase Mr. President, the House of Representatives is expected to pass tonight legislation that should be very good news to Americans who care about their jobs and Americans who care about the condition of our inland waterway systems. Inland waterway systems aren't on the front page of the U.S. newspapers until a lock closes or something happens and the cargo can't get down the river, and then it is big trouble. Which is the case in Tennessee with the Chickamauga Lock, an old lock that the Army Corps of Engineers says could close. It is in such bad shape, and if it were to close it would throw 150,000 heavy trucks on I-75 and disrupt the economy in all of eastern Tennessee. That same picture applies in many other parts of our country to these important waterways: The Mississippi, the Missouri, the Tennessee, and the Ohio--rivers that carry so much of the heavy cargo that provides income and jobs for so many American families. Tonight the House of Representatives is expected to enact the third part of a three-part plan that was envisioned in the American Waterworks Act of 2012, which would provide a permanent, long-term solution to having the kind of inland waterway system that a great country such as the United States deserves. I wish to speak for a moment about the effect that has not just on our country but on my home State of Tennessee.…”