Buchanan Leads Fla. Delegation Letter to Biden on Supply Chain Crisis

Press Release

Amid ongoing delays at West Coast seaports, Congressman Vern Buchanan today led a letter signed by 17 bipartisan members of the Florida congressional delegation advocating for increased use of Florida's 15 deepwater ports.

"As the holidays approach, American businesses and families are feeling the effects firsthand of the continued supply chain bottlenecks," said Buchanan. "Given Florida's unique geographic location, our 15 deepwater seaports can handle increased freight traffic and meet holiday demands for consumers around the country, and they are ready to get to work."

In a letter to President Biden, the members offered to work with the Biden administration to utilize Florida's ports as an alternative to the West Coast that continues to see unprecedented delays in offloading cargo, leading to severe supply chain congestion. Recent reports state that almost 90 cargo ships were left idling off the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles while waiting to offload their containers. At one point, this logjam led to 17-day delays for ships, further delaying the arrival of shipments to consumers.

In just the last two years, the State of Florida has invested nearly $1 billion in projects to increase seaport capacity and plans to spend an additional $200 million over the next several years to improve the state's roadways to handle increased freight movements. Additionally, unlike other ports across the country, many of Florida's ports have been functioning at full capacity 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week, for quite some time.

"Today, our ports stand ready to help alleviate current systemic freight backlogs all over the country and are well-equipped to handle additional capacity," said the members in the letter. "In short, Florida is open for business."

Florida Ports Council President and CEO Mike Rubin praised the lawmakers and said, "The leadership and bipartisan efforts of Florida's Congressional Delegation, is further demonstration that Florida's seaports are open for business, and are a key solution in helping to alleviate the nation's supply chain challenges … Special thanks to Congressman Vern Buchanan and Florida's Congressional Delegation for his leadership on this important issue"."

Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis also announced that Florida's seaports can decrease congestion along shipping routes and welcomed businesses to reroute their cargo to a port along our coasts.

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