On the recordMarch 23, 2022
Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Washington for her incredible leadership of the Commerce Committee and focusing on the issues that matter to businesses, something the Presiding Officer, as the former Governor of Colorado and someone who knows a little bit about business understands as well. We have to fix these supply chain issues, and we have to actually take up the torch. We have gotten through the worst of this pandemic; we see the lighthouse on the horizon; and it is time to move forward with our economy. And instead of just diagnosing the problem, we actually have to do some things to fix it. And on that list, for my own State, I would say, No. 1 is workforce and getting people into the jobs that we have available; No. 2, something Senator Cantwell has made so clear, is the semiconductors and all of the things we should be making in America; No. 3 is infrastructure. We are so proud of the bipartisan infrastructure bill that we worked so hard on and the money going to improve our ports, including the port in Duluth, the busiest port on Lake Superior. And then, finally, something I am going to address today, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a bipartisan bill that I lead with Senator Thune, unanimously passed the Commerce Committee yesterday, and I want to thank Senators Cantwell and Wicker for their leadership and help on the bill. Senator Thune and I are both in the middle of the country.…





