Norvell Emerson: “you will hear today and you have heard today that modernizing our locks and dams on the Mississippi River is a financial…”

“you will hear today and you have heard today that modernizing our locks and dams on the Mississippi River is a financial boondoggle. Nothing could be farther from the truth. And economically, waterway transportation is the most efficient mode of transporting commercial freight. Our fleet today carries 800 tons of raw materials and finished goods each year, and it adds $5 billion to the United States' economy. A typical inland barge holds a capacity of 15 tons greater than one rail car, and 60 times greater than one semi-trailer truck. Waterway transportation is also the most environmentally friendly mode of commercial transportation. I would like to remind my colleagues from Oregon and Arizona that modernization of the Ohio River navigation system has been ongoing for more than 40 years, and updated to current value, investments to restore that navigation system would far surpass the cost of improvements on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois waterways. You know, we ship millions of tons of agricultural commodities--oil, gas, chemicals, fertilizers, hazardous materials--up and down the Mississippi River because it is safer, and it is less costly. For this reason, we must continue the modernization process and defeat Flake- Blumenauer when it comes up later today.”