Editorial: River Support Was All Just Lip Service

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Water Resources Development Act by a whopping margin last July. Then 80 percent of the members of the U.S. Senate signed a letter supporting WRDA passage. We learned last week that all of the hard work has gone for naught. House and Senate negotiators ran out of time to reach agreement before the 109th Congress adjourned.

What seems apparent is that much of the earlier congressional support was merely lip service. If not, why was the issue abandoned?

As a nation, we have failed to recognize the vital role the maritime industry plays in our national defense and economic well-being. The Government Accountability Office told us repeatedly that water transport puts about $15 billion into the treasury annually. Only a pittance has been returned, while the towing industry shells out big bucks via the fuel tax to pay for 50 percent of river-project construction and the Corps of Engineers has to scratch for the rest. In the meantime, the Office of Management of the Budget and President Bush saw no need for infrastructure improvements.

In looking back, we find a good example of neglect by government. After all, we haven’t had a WRDA in six years. It is conceivable that one of the most obvious frauds perpetrated upon the American people was the promise of support from Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater, who served in the Clinton administration. Upon appointment, he announced great support for the inland waterways and on April 14, 2000, embarked on a two-week multi-modal tour across the U.S. to promote “the administration’s vision of a transportation system that enhances safety and mobility while meeting the needs of all Americans.”

Said Slater, “This tour reinforces the…administration’s recognition of transportation as a strategic investment, along with education, health care, technology and the environment, essential to strengthening America for the new challenges and the limitless opportunities of a new century and a new millennium.” Wow!

After that we found not one statement or action that supported the towing industry or suggested better maintenance and modernization of the waterway infrastructure. Well, time has proven that Slater was little different from the rest; he just brought about disappointment differently than the others.

Failure to recognize the need for a strong merchant marine is a mistake. One needs only to recall World War II to know this. Certainly conditions have changed, but change has resulted from our legislative actions and failure to protect against foreign competition.

Shipbuilding business is booming on the Gulf Coast, so much so that builders are experiencing labor shortages. The container business is growing rapidly. There really is growing potential for the Mississippi River System. But lawmakers ignore the infrastructure that makes movement of goods by water possible, even though the federal government predicts a tremendous growth in transportation demand in the next 15 years.

Memphis, which recognizes the potential, is being heralded as a “pearl” in the 3,300-mile strand of cities from Los Angeles to Detroit that stand to benefit most from Asian trade. By 2020, about 16.4 million containers are projected to pass through the Long Beach port alone. Most of these containers are moving by rail or truck.

Said one transport official, “By 2020, we expect 36.1 million containers. When people are stuck in traffic and see all those containers on highways, they’re not thinking of the much less expensive Nike shoes they bought or that their new suit costs less.” Blinding congestion annually costs Americans 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and more than 2 billion gallons of wasted fuel, he said.

We believe the opportunity for improving the environment and relieving highway congestion rests in efficient, modernized waterways. While critics bandy about big numbers, the actual cost to improve the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers is minimal when considering the good it would do.

Perhaps some day in the future we will acknowledge the need for waterway infrastructure improvements, and perhaps, due to the unavoidable pressures, the work will get done. But the cost will be considerably higher than what it would be if it were to be undertaken now. What a shame!

We need a strong merchant marine for reasons we have already spelled out, and we need an efficient infrastructure to make it work. Both imports and exports must be moved to and from tidewater.

Trucking firms and railroads are buried in cargo, further confirming transportation forecasts. But an inefficient system and a governing body that has not acted to effect improvements are hamstringing the potential for waterborne shipments.

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