On the recordMay 20, 2014
After a lot of hard work and collaborative effort, I am pleased that the Water Resources Reform and Development Act conference committee, which I was honored to serve on, was finally able to come to a fair, bipartisan agreement on the new water bill that will create jobs and keep our ports globally competitive. As a representative of the Nation's busiest port complex in Los Angeles and Long Beach, and cofounder of our PORTS Caucus here in Congress, I have fought hard from my first day in Congress to increase funding for our Nation's ports by fully utilizing our Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to ensure that money that is collected at our ports goes back to our ports. They don't call me Ms. Harbor Maintenance Tax for nothing around here. It has been a long journey, but I am thrilled that after countless hearings and meetings with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and with the leadership from Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Rahall that our proposals to fully utilize our Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and to allow ports to use these funds for expanded uses is included in this final water bill. When we pass this bipartisan measure, it is a victory not just for the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, but for all our ports--our ports in Savannah and all those in this Nation. When our ports are strong, Mr. Speaker, our Nation is strong. ____________________
