On the recordOctober 23, 2013
I thank the gentleman from Florida. Mr. Speaker, we are a country of interdependent States that share prosperity, challenges, and resources, united with a goal of a healthy economy supported by quality infrastructure. At times, though, inequities in the collection and distribution of Federal resources create such an imbalance that one region is put at a distinct disadvantage. This is the case for California, which collects nearly one-third of the Nation's harbor maintenance taxes but receives less than 7 percent of the expenditures for port projects. Mrs. Napolitano's amendment, had it been allowed to come to this floor, would have brought a measure of equity to this stark imbalance. I believe this was a missed opportunity for our Nation's ports.
