Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I've got a radical idea, a radical idea for the people of America. Let's use Harbor Maintenance Trust Funds for harbor maintenance. For 25 years, we've been robbing Peter to pay Paul, but in reality that $7 billion that we have taken away from that has really been robbing places like Manistee, Michigan, where this weekend in my district a ship ran aground and had to get towed off and the damage that happened to it.

We have 11 harbors in the Second District, hundreds in the Great Lakes and countless in the Nation on both of the coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. Enough money has been collected every year to pay for all of this maintenance that has to happen, but unfortunately Congress has been skimming it to help pay for other programs.

I appreciate my friend from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), his leadership with the RAMP Act, and Chairman Upton from Michigan in leading this in the Great Lakes. We know this is the right thing to do for America and for our transportation needs, our infrastructure needs. Our Great Lakes need it. The coasts need it, our harbors need it, our economy needs this to happen.

I strongly support this amendment today.

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