WASHINGTON, May 7, 2013 – Over twenty national agricultural
associations today urged the Senate to promptly approve legislation (S. 601)
that would reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).
The Senate is scheduled to begin floor consideration on the
legislation today, with a vote possible by later this week or early during the
week of May 13. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously
approved a WRDA bill on March 20.
“America’s inland waterways and ports long have provided
U.S. farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses with a strong comparative advantage,
enhancing our ability to efficiently and competitively serve domestic and
global markets, as well as to secure essential crop inputs for production of
grains, oilseeds and other agricultural commodities,” the agricultural
organizations wrote in a National Grain and Feed Association-generated letter
distributed to all senators on May 6.
But the organizations noted that the inland waterways system
now risks becoming a “potential detriment” rather than a comparative strength
for U.S. agriculture and other sectors of the American economy. The groups noted that a “staggering” 57
percent of the locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River System were
built in the 1930s with a projected 50-year lifespan. Of those, 26 percent are more than 70 years
old. A 2013 infrastructure “report card”
issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. inland
waterways a D- grade.
Signatories included the National Grain and Feed
Association; the Agricultural Retailers Association; American Farm Bureau
Federation; American Feed Industry Association; American Soybean Association; Corn
Refiners Association; National Association of Wheat Growers; National Barley
Growers Association; National Chicken Council; National Corn Growers
Association; National Cotton Council; National Council of Farmer Cooperatives;
National Farmers Union; National Oilseed
Processors Association; National Sunflower Association; National Turkey
Federation; North American Export Grain Association; Pet Food Institute; The
Fertilizer Institute; U.S. Canola Association; and U.S. Poultry & Egg
Association.
#30
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