On the recordMay 20, 2014
I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their hard work on this bill. As a member of the conference committee, I am in strong support of this report. Really, there are two numbers that come to mind for me in this report, and that is 9,900. That is 9,900 local jobs in West Virginia are supported by West Virginia waterways. The next number is $1.6 billion. That is how much the waterways industry contributes to our great State. So this is important that we do this efficiently, well maintained, that we can move our goods and services, particularly our West Virginia coal, down the rivers to power America. I am in strong support of this bill, and I again congratulate the chairman and ranking member for moving this forward.
