On the recordNovember 4, 2011
I am honored to represent a district in the St. Louis, Missouri, region near the confluence of the mighty Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers, an area where inland waterway commerce is vital to our economic well-being as well as to recreation, security, and safety. In a normal year on the inland waterway system, between 500 and 700 million tons of bulk commodities with a current approximate value of nearly $125 billion are moved an average of roughly 500 miles to produce in excess of 300 billion ton-miles of freight transportation. When given a choice, heavy bulk shippers often choose barge transportation on our waterways. It is estimated that barge shippers and their customers save more than $7 billion annually by utilizing inland waterways. As lawmakers, especially during these difficult economic times, we must do everything in our power to facilitate trade and economic activity. That's why this Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Reauthorization Act is so critical to get it right. But we also see in this bill, as prior speakers have mentioned, the patchwork of ballast water regulations that have hampered our inland waterways trade and imposed unnecessary cost on business. I applaud the effort to create a national minimum standard to protect our environment while creating certainty and stability for the industry. But I do support Representative Bishop's amendment that strikes the right balance.…
