Keep our seaports strong

In a letter sent yesterday to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) President and CEO Kurt Nagle asked committee members to fully consider the benefits of focusing scarce federal resources where they will have the greatest impact, including in and around America’s seaports.

He noted – quite correctly – that our ports facilitate trade and commerce, create jobs, help secure our borders, support our military and serve as stewards of valuable coastal environmental resources.

“Seaports are essential to economic prosperity, and federal funding for seaports pays dividends for our country,” Nagle stated.

The letter comes on the heels of a speech from the White House Rose Garden earlier this week where President Obama listed ports as one of the important investment areas that America should focus on in the near term and going forward. 

“We have to have a serious conversation about making real, lasting investments in infrastructure, from better ports to a smarter electric grid to high speed rail,” President Obama said. “At a time when interest rates are low and workers are unemployed, the best time to make those investments is now, not once another levee fails or another bridge falls. Right now is when we need to be making these decisions.”