Operating Engineer - International Union of Operating Engineers

Politics & Legislation
Ports, Harbors, Waterways Legislation Passes Senate
On May 15, the United States
Senate overwhelmingly passed the
nation’s Water Resources Development
Act of 2013, which governs investments
on the nation’s inland waterways, locks
and dams, ports, harbors, and floodcontrol
projects, ensuring competitive
maritime transshipment of agricultural
products, fuel shipments, and much
more.
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman
of the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee, was able to forge a
compromise with Republicans on her
committee, which led to unanimous
support for the bill when it passed out
of her committee. That show of support
built momentum as the legislation
moved to the Senate floor, where 83
Senators supported it on final passage.
“Getting 83 votes in favor when
bipartisanship is missing in the Senate
is very important. Now is the time for
the House to act so we can ensure that
the benefits of the bill are realized,” Sen.
Boxer said in a statement following the
vote.
IUOE General President Callahan
joined the call for quick passage of the
bill in the House of Representatives.
“Now is the time to quickly move this
bipartisan legislation in the House
to create jobs and put Operating
Engineers to work,” said President
Callahan.
A billion dollars invested in water
projects creates about 10,000 jobs in
the construction industry, including
hundreds of IUOE jobs. It is estimated
that the bill will create or sustain about
500,000 jobs across the United States in
all sectors of the economy.
The bipartisan legislation will
authorize critical water-resources
investments and speed the projectdelivery
process at the Army Corps
of Engineers. The bill would also help
ensure that the nation’s harbor and
port navigation channels are fully
maintained by expending Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund revenues for
their authorized and intended purpose.
The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund,
before these changes, collected
revenue from freight shipments to
maintain the nation’s harbors, but past
Administrations, both Democratic and
Republican, refused to spend all of
the money raised for that purpose on
harbor maintenance. The International
Union of Operating Engineers, working
closely with other industry allies, has
been trying to resolve this issue for
years.
Another section of the bill, S. 601,
would create an innovative financing
program to leverage government funds
for water infrastructure projects. This
program is modeled after one that exists
in the highway and transit law, and is
designed to provide low-cost financing
to public-private partnerships, as well
as ports, states, and local governments.
[photo] Brant Sanderlin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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international operating engineer