Hire more Heroes Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the gentleman from
California's amendments.
With this amendment, we need to start the rebirth of our Nation's
shipping capabilities and begin to build U.S.-flagged seagoing vessels to move a domestic supply of sand and gravel across our Nation.

This amendment allows access to aggregate that will be available to
restore damaged beaches, enhance fisheries habitats in the estuaries
and littoral regions of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the
Pacific Ocean by providing clean sand and gravel for broad-scale beach
replenishment projects that are so vital across the Nation.

This amendment will also lead to establishment of a reliable U.S.
source to meet domestic demand for major construction and public
projects. Half of all uses for sand and gravel are used for public
projects, building and replacing vital U.S. highways, bridges, and
seawall infrastructures.

Utilizing our marine transportation will save taxpayer dollars by
reducing costs on public works projects because, simply put, moving
containerized cargo on the water is cost-competitive, economical, and
efficient.

Passage of this amendment puts our country on the path to having the
potential to create at least 20,000 more shipbuilding manufacturing
jobs just by building at least 30 to 40 new seagoing bulk freighters
and container carrier ships worth at least $3 billion that will result
if we pass this amendment.

This amendment is good for the country. It is good for our
infrastructure, and it is good for creating American jobs across this
country.

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