{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://graves.house.gov/media/press-releases/graves-and-webster-ask-president-use-his-authority-end-ports-strike", "Graves and Webster Ask President to Use His Authority to End Ports Strike", "2024-10-01", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Sam Graves", "G000546", "graves.house.gov", "graves", "https://graves.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Webster (R-FL) today asked President Biden to use the authority of his office to bring an end to the strike at U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports.\n\nIn a letter to the White House, Graves and Webster urged the President to invoke his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to restore operations at the ports and bring parties to the negotiating table until their issues are resolved. The Chairmen stated, \u201cthe economic impacts of failing to intervene and bring the parties to the negotiating table will be wide ranging, leaving the American consumer paying higher prices as we approach the holidays. We urge you to immediately bring the parties together and restore the full capacity of our Nation\u2019s commerce.\u201d\n\nGraves and Webster, along with other House Republicans, had previously written to the Administration urging their action to avoid the strike in the first place. In today\u2019s letter, they said, \u201cDespite calls from stakeholders and 69 Republican Members of Congress, the Biden Administration failed to meaningfully engage the parties in an effort to reach a resolution leading up to the strike deadline. Continued inaction only compounds our Nation\u2019s economic harm, further burdening American families\u2019 pocketbooks.\u201d They noted a previous 2002 work stoppage at West Coast ports during which President Bush used Taft-Hartley powers to resume port operations until a new labor agreement was reached.\n\nGraves and Webster added in joint statement: \u201cThe Biden-Harris Administration needs to put the good of economy and the country over politics and step in immediately to help resolve this potentially devastating crisis. Every day of delay will cost the economy billions of dollars, and it will only be a matter of days before the resulting cargo backlogs will being impacting consumers and the upcoming holiday season. Unfortunately, the Administration did nothing to help prevent this strike, so we now call on them to use every authority in their possession to end it and ensure the continued flow of commerce.\u201d\n\nRead today\u2019s full letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://graves.house.gov/media/press-releases/graves-and-webster-ask-president-use-his-authority-end-ports-strike"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8473098278045654, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}