The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, to which the SIU is affiliated, recently issued the following news release. To access it on the task force website, click HERE
Senator Ron Johnson Named 2016 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year
TOLEDO, OH – Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) has been named 2016 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year by the largest labor/management coalition representing shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. The award is presented annually by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) to a legislator who has helped advance waterborne commerce on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and will be presented at a ceremony at Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, on March 19.
“Senator Johnson has demonstrated time and again that Great Lakes shipping has his full support,” said Thomas Curelli, President of GLMTF in 2016. “From the start he has fully recognized that Great Lakes shipping is a linchpin in both the Wisconsin and national economies and called for better maintenance of ports and waterways and more effective prioritization of federal spending on dredging and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects.”
Curelli, who is also Vice President of Engineering, Environmental Services and Governmental Affairs for Fraser Shipyards, Inc., noted that increased funding has enabled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the dredging backlog on the Lakes. “However, more than 17 million cubic yards of sediment still clog Great Lakes ports and waterways, so we will need Senator Johnson’s support for a provision in the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 that requires 10 percent of HMTF funding go to the Great Lakes Navigation System.”
Senator Johnson’s Chairmanship of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is another benefit to the Lakes. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ navigation locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, are critical to the Great Lakes economy,” said Brian D. Krus, 1st Vice President of GLMTF and Senior National Assistance Vice President of American Maritime Officers. “The Department of Homeland Security recently estimated that a six-month outage of the Poe Lock would result in almost 11 million unemployed Americans and a $1.1 trillion decrease in economic activity. Senator Johnson’s oversight of the nation’s critical infrastructure helps keep the Corps focused on maintaining the ‘Soo’ Locks’ critical navigation link between the Great Lakes.”
James H.I. Weakley, 2nd Vice President of GLMTF and President of Lake Carriers’ Association noted, “It is appropriate that the award will be presented at a Wisconsin shipyard because domestic and military vessels provide more than 1,000 family sustaining jobs for Wisconsinites. The normal maintenance and modernization work U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleets are performing at the shipyards in Sturgeon Bay and Superior this winter are pumping approximately $50 million into the Wisconsin economy. Two repowering projects are adding another $50 million to that total.”
Protection of the environment is a top priority for Senator Johnson. Repowering vessels lessens the carbon footprint of Great Lakes shipping, but equally important is federal legislation that effectively regulates ballast water. “We appreciate Senator Johnson’s support for the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (S. 373), as it would establish a uniform, federal standard for ballast water discharges. Senator Johnson worked to ensure that Great Lakes concerns are specifically addressed in the bill.”
Senator’s Johnson focus on bolstering the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking resources on the Great Lakes was yet another reason for his selection has Great Lakes Legislator of the Year. “Most people think icebreaking is primarily for the iron ore and coal trades,” said John D. Baker, 3rd Vice President of GLMTF and President Emeritus of the ILA’s Great Lakes District Council, “but the St. Lawrence Seaway is also heavily dependent on the Coast Guard keeping the shipping lanes open. Ocean-going vessel operators will not take the chance on being trapped on the Lakes over the winter or suffering significant ice damage when the Seaway opens in late March. Senator Johnson fully supports the Coast Guard building another heavy icebreaker and accelerating the modernization of its other icebreaking assets.”
With his selection as Great Lakes Legislator of the Year, Senator Johnson becomes the third Wisconsin legislator to receive the award since its inception in 1998. Previous recipients are Rep. David R. Obey (D) and Rep. Mark Green (R).
Founded in 1992, Great Lakes Maritime Task Force promotes domestic and international shipping on the Great Lakes. With 84 members, it is the largest coalition to ever speak for the Great Lakes shipping community and draws its membership from both labor and management representing U.S.-flag vessel operators, shipboard and longshore unions, port authorities, cargo shippers, terminal operators, shipyards and other Great Lakes interests. Its goals include ensuring Lakes dredging is adequately funded, construction of a second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, protecting the Jones Act and other U.S. maritime cabotage laws and regulations; maximizing the Lakes overseas trade via the St. Lawrence Seaway; opposing exports and/or increased diversions of Great Lakes water; and expanding short sea shipping on the Lakes.
###
Comments are closed.