Brian Babin: “I can't answer that specifically, but I do know that, even when there is funding available, they are still unable to…”

“I can't answer that specifically, but I do know that, even when there is funding available, they are still unable to solve a problem that could be a serious safety deficiency. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, I understand the gentleman's concern. If I could, I would direct another question to the gentleman. Earlier the gentleman might have heard discussion about our collecting an ad valorem tax on the value of imported goods, which is about $1.6 billion a year; yet we are only spending somewhere between $1 billion and $1.1 billion a year. There is a theoretical balance in the nonexistent harbor maintenance trust fund of $9.8 billion, which would go a long way to resolving lots of these problems across the country. Does the gentleman support the idea of creating a real trust fund and actually spending the taxes that are collected for harbor maintenance on harbor maintenance and not having them be frittered away somewhere else in the government? Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).”