Washington, D.C. — The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Salud Carbajal (D-CA) during today’s hearing titled, “America Builds: Maritime Infrastructure.”
Video of Ranking Members Larsen’s and Carbajal’s opening statements can be found here and here.
More information on the hearing can be found here.
Ranking Member Larsen:
Thank you, Chairman Ezell, for calling this hearing and congratulations on your new role. Your history of bipartisanship and support for the maritime industry and Coast Guard will greatly benefit this Subcommittee.
Before we dive into the topic of this hearing, I must address the sudden termination of the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Linda Fagan.
What the President did was unjustified and reckless. Never before in the history of the Service has a Commandant been relieved—let alone for political purposes.
I want to thank Admiral Fagan for all she has done for this country.
Acting Commandant Lunday and the next Commandant must continue to move the Coast Guard forward. Under the leadership of Admiral Fagan, the Coast Guard made significant improvement regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment, recruiting and retention and ensuring that the service is more inclusive for everyone. That work must continue.
It was my hope for today’s hearing that we could focus on the important work of building America’s maritime infrastructure, but I’m afraid that work is being undermined.
The President’s Executive Order (EO) to pause infrastructure spending from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act is putting billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and tens of thousands of projects at risk.
While last week’s broader memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget to freeze all federal assistance programs was rescinded, BIL funding including Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grants remain in limbo.
Continued threats and actions to claw back infrastructure funding are sowing chaos and will have devastating impacts on the maritime industry, our national security and our economic security.
Across the country there are over 300 ports. Of these, 20 handle the vast majority of container cargo. Only two U.S. ports are in the top 20 ports globally while China has seven of the top 10.
This not due to a lack of maritime activity in the U.S.—it is because China heavily subsidizes port and maritime operations while the U.S. does not.
During the supply chain crisis in 2021, the Biden Administration mobilized funding to increase capacity and productivity.
These efforts by the Biden Administration, coupled with the hard-work of our longshore workers, pulled us out of the supply chain crisis.
Since then, over $2.18 billion in port infrastructure development program funding has gone to ports across the country to bolster safety and reliability.
Ports like Houston, Texas received $25 million, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi received $4 million and the state of Alaska received over $50 million for uses across the entire state in fiscal year 2024. These states are benefiting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Let’s keep it going.
The Clean Ports Program that the Environmental Protection Agency administers has assisted in the deployment of shore power to ports across the country, including a $63 million grant to the Port of Anacortes, in my own district, which includes, not just clean shore power, but a total redevelopment of a wholly underutilized area of the port to create jobs and bring private sector jobs there—including having a signed grant agreement that now the EPA has paused and is delaying the creation of these private sector jobs. This is inexplicable, and I ask the EPA to provide an explanation of what it is doing to get this grant going again, as well as the ones that are going to the Port of Bellingham, also in my district, and any other port that is expecting these grants from a signed grant agreement.
Investing in shore power not only improves air quality by reducing pollution, it is consistent with standard operations of ports around the globe. Shipping companies want to cut pollution, and ports want to be competitive.
Rescinding funds for ports that were passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act puts our ports at a disadvantage and is short-sighted. We won’t quietly let this happen.
America’s shipyards are an essential piece of maritime infrastructure that are falling behind international competition due to unfair and subsidized competition.
Larger shipyards have no dedicated grant program and rely heavily on government and commercial contracts to stay afloat.
Buy America requirements and the Jones Act help ensure shipyards maintain steady business by requiring shipbuilding and manufacturing to take place in the United States.
I was heartened to hear Secretary Duffy’s support for the Jones Act during his confirmation hearing. The Jones Act has strong support among members of this Committee and is critical to the maritime industry.
Thanks to historic levels of federal investment, the nation’s transportation system and infrastructure are better today than they were four years ago.
Continuing that progress requires ongoing investment, especially in the maritime industry. Let’s keep it going.
Thank you, and I yield back.
Ranking Member Carbajal:
Good afternoon, and thank you, Chairman Ezell, for calling today’s hearing and congratulations on your new post as Chair of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee. I look forward to working together with you to get some important things done this Congress.
Before I turn to the matter at hand today, I have to discuss the outrageous executive actions directed at the Coast Guard, specifically the unprecedented, misguided, and clearly political firing of the Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Linda Fagan.
As the first female service chief of any branch of the military, she served with honor and distinction and exhibited a true commitment to making things better for the service as a whole. It is deeply unfair for this Administration to invent a false narrative for her termination and use that as a basis to engage in political theater and retribution.
While we have made great strides in recent years in bolstering our ports, waterways, and maritime industry, we cannot take our foot off the pedal.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law alone invested more than $17 billion in our ports and waterways. This funding has been used to fund repairs, upgrades, and replacements to reduce port and vessel congestion and to strengthen our supply chains.
In addition, cutting emissions near ports by boosting electrification and investing in other low-carbon technologies to reduce overall environmental impacts is critically important as we continue to battle climate change. Since BIL funding expires in 2 years, I look forward to working together to draft the BIL 2.0.
U.S. ports accounted for almost $3 trillion dollars in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024. The sheer volume of cargo moving in and out of the ports would not be possible without robust infrastructure and a strong workforce to support it.
Another area that is prime for robust U.S. investment is offshore wind. Adding clean energy production into the maritime domain is a win-win for the U.S. maritime industry, creating jobs for mariners, business at ports, and shipbuilding opportunities for companies and shipyards – many of which have already made significant investments.
I believe we are at a crossroads in the maritime domain, facing a critical deficit in the number of U.S. shipyards, U.S. mariners, and U.S. vessels.
As every mariner who does business in the United States knows, the Jones Act is the foundation of the United States maritime industry. At its core, it is designed to protect the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry and requires any vessel participating in coastwise trade to be United States-owned, United States-crewed and United States-built.
We have an opportunity now more than ever to leverage its built-in barriers and revitalize the maritime industry.
If the United States intends on keeping pace with capacity and technology to maintain the steady state flow of goods, we must continue to prioritize programs such as the Port Infrastructure Development Program, the Small Shipyard Grant Program, and the Federal Ship Financing Program, Cargo Preference, and Title 11.
Building out our shipyards is a top priority for our nation’s maritime governance and also our national security. Our commercial mariners and our military depend on reliable shipyards to build and repair our US fleet. We know that having only four shipyards left in America is not sustainable.
But building ships is not enough. To remain competitive internationally, we must ensure that U.S. flag ships have cargo to carry.
Even more so, I am concerned that the Administration’s manufactured turmoil at the Coast Guard will lead to serious risks in the maritime transportation system—risks that we cannot afford to make.
I am hopeful that this hearing can shed light on the positive impacts that the loan and grant programs have had on this industry. Also, I want you to be critical and honest—what is it going to take to return the U.S. to a global competitor in shipping and shipbuilding.
Thank you and I yield back.
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