Brian Babin: “Woman, I thank the chairman of the committee. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who has the…”

“Woman, I thank the chairman of the committee. As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who has the great privilege to represent four Texas ports in my district in Texas, it is truly an honor to offer this amendment today on their behalf. Right now, the Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a study of the Houston Ship Channel to evaluate potential improvements. This study will examine the process for widening the channel and extending the 45- foot depth further inland. This is a necessary and well-intentioned study for an extremely worthy project. However, everyone involved in producing it is discovering that the Corps processes involved are outdated and inefficient. These processes are unable to adequately evaluate the national benefits of the improvements being studied or the implications of major operational changes in the future. As a result, unless reforms are made, this Corps study and others like it will not recognize the benefits of widening a waterway like the Houston Ship Channel in certain areas; areas that can lead to a restriction of one-way traffic in the future, as vessels become larger and larger over time. The Houston Ship Channel is the busiest waterway in the Nation. It supports the top exporting region and the largest petrochemical manufacturing center in the United States. Ensuring an efficient waterway now and into the future is critical for the region, for the State of Texas, and for the Nation.…”