Letter to Shaun Donovan - Invest In Small Ports

Letter

Mr. Shaun Donovan
Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Donovan:

As you develop your FY 2017 budget proposal, we ask that you address the needs of small coastal waterways in the Pacific Northwest. These small ports and harbors are some of our nation's most valuable assets and critical to maintaining and creating jobs in these states. Commercial trading and fishing and recreational boating at these small ports is critically important to the economic health of Oregon and Washington coastal port communities and to our states, region and nation.

These federal commercial navigation projects are routinely overlooked and remain critically underfunded. We are disappointed that in recent years, most of the small ports on our coasts were completely zeroed out in the administration's budget. Even with the mandatory minimum funding allocation for small ports in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA), many Northwest "emerging harbors" were left unfunded in the FY 2016 budget proposal. Congress has been clear about its support for these small ports by increasing Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) expenditures. We urge you, at a minimum, to reach the overall target for HMTF expenditures set forth in WRRDA and to allocate no less than 10 percent of maintenance dredging funds to meet the critical needs of small ports in the Northwest and throughout the nation.

Congress has shown its commitment to these navigation projects by providing programmatic funding pots each year. It is imperative for the Administration to show its commitment now and fund these small ports in the FY 2017 budget proposal. Without adequate funding, the navigation channels leading to these ports will silt in and the jetties protecting these communities will crumble. Ports provide employment for a significant proportion of these communities. Without access to the ports and the open ocean, the main economic driver in these communities is gone. It is important to give certainty and support to these small communities.

We believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that our coastal ports in Oregon and Washington, and throughout the nation, remain open for business and continue to contribute to the economic health of the U.S. Leaving our small port needs unmet threatens the jobs of our citizens and weakens our national economic competitiveness. We thank you for your consideration and efforts and look forward to working with you to address this issue.

Sincerely,

Rick Larsen
Member of Congress

Peter DeFazio
Member of Congress

Jim McDermott
Member of Congress

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Adam Smith
Member of Congress

Greg Walden
Member of Congress

Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of Congress

Dave Reichert
Member of Congress

Kurt Schrader
Member of Congress

Jaime Herrera Beutler
Member of Congress

Suzanne Bonamici
Member of Congress

Suzan DelBene
Member of Congress

Denny Heck
Member of Congress

Derek Kilmer
Member of Congress

Dan Newhouse
Member of Congress