OR U.S. House District 2 issued the following announcement on Mar 13.
Today, Congressman Cliff Bentz (OR-02) and four of his House colleagues led a bipartisan letter to President Biden encouraging him to allocate funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (passed last year) for the Oregon International EcoPort project in Coos Bay, Oregon.
“We have been plagued by a supply chain crisis since the pandemic began in 2020. The disruptions in supply chains have revealed severe weaknesses in our ability to ship and receive goods around the globe from West Coast ports. This has worsened every issue facing every state in the Union. While I did not vote for the IIJA (because of the outrageous amount of wasteful spending contained therein), it did pass the House last year. Without serious investment in our nation’s ports, it will be impossible to fix this important issue. That is why I am advocating that President Biden select the Oregon International EcoPort project in Coos Bay for use of funds contained in the IIJA. This would increase West Coast port capacity by up to 10%. We cannot afford to continue to fall behind other countries, causing us to lose out on tremendous export opportunities,” Rep. Bentz said.
Recent studies conducted by the Northwest Seaport Alliance show that Canadian ports have received more than double the amount of investment that U.S. West Coast ports have received in the last few years. Our port could assist in the export of numerous Oregon timber products. The Port of Coos Bay already has a Class I rail system and hundreds of acres of undeveloped land, but upgrades to the existing infrastructure through the Oregon International EcoPort project are needed to reach the full potential of this location.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up