U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) recently signed a letter that will be sent to three committees to urge House and Senate leaders to add the Port Performance Act to the completed transportation authorization bill.
The letter was sent to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Committee on Environment and Public Works, as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
There has been an ongoing need for ports to be included in the last transportation reauthorization bill. This was particularly demonstrated from Oct. 2014 to Feb. 2015 with the West Coast Ports Crisis. Throughout the crisis, the Pacific Maritime Association as well as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union had a significant breakdown in contract negotiation discussions with its employees.
The breakdown interrupted national retailers, farmers and manufacturers, because they were not able to export their goods to consumers. This resulted in a loss of more than $7 billion for national retailers.
“North Dakota’s producers depend on a reliable transportation system to get products to market,” Cramer said. “The interruptions at the West Coast Ports cannot be allowed to happen again. The Port Performance Act ensures the federal government collects the data needed to effectively monitor the ports and correct any issues which may occur in the future.”
