{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-blunt-and-durbin-reps-smith_bustos-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-call-for-corps-to-fund-upper-mississippi-water-infrastructure-projects", "Sens. Blunt & Durbin, Reps. Smith & Bustos Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Call for Corps to Fund Upper Mississippi Water Infrastructure Projects", "2020-10-27", "2020", "2020-10", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Yesterday, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and\r\nDick Durbin (Ill.), along with U.S. Representatives Jason Smith (Mo.) and Cheri\r\nBustos (Ill.), led a bipartisan, bicameral call for the U.S. Army Corps of\r\nEngineers to include construction funding for the Navigation and Ecosystem\r\nSustainability Program (NESP) in the Fiscal Year 2021 Work Plan. In a letter to\r\nAssistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James and Chief of\r\nEngineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant\r\nGeneral Scott A. Spellmon, the lawmakers urged the Corps to take this next step\r\ntoward lock modernization and ecosystem restoration to strengthen water\r\ninfrastructure along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.  The lawmakers wrote, Our nation's water infrastructure\r\nplays a critical role in maintaining our competitiveness in the global economy\r\nby ensuring the safest, least expensive, most environmentally-friendly, and\r\nmost efficient movement of goods to market, but the current backlog of outstanding\r\nwater infrastructure projects pending before the Corps is putting that\r\ncompetitiveness at risk. NESP, which was authorized in Title VIII of the Water\r\nResources Development Act of 2007, would modernize and expand seven outdated\r\nlocks and restore ecosystems. Including construction funding for NESP in the FY\r\n2021 Work Plan would build on the $4.5 million investment in preconstruction\r\nengineering and design for the projects in FY2020. The lawmakers continued, As this infrastructure continues\r\nto age (currently well past its intended lifetime) the risk of catastrophic\r\nfailure grows. It is imperative that we address this issue before  not after \r\nsuch a failure occurs. This window in time, with a new construction start\r\navailable, is the best opportunity to begin the long-awaited NESP program.\r\nWaterways Council, Inc. and its members greatly appreciate the leadership from\r\nCongresswoman Bustos, Congressman Smith, Senator Blunt, Senator Durbin and all\r\nwho co-signed onto this letter, advocating for this critical program for the\r\nentire nation, said Tracy Zea, President and CEO of Waterways Council, Inc.\r\nAmerica's farmers, our manufacturing base, and our construction trades need\r\nNESP to begin now. The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) commends\r\nSenator Roy Blunt, Senator Dick Durbin, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and\r\nCongressman Jason Smith for this bipartisan letter which will continue to build\r\nmomentum for the urgently needed Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability\r\nProgram (NESP), said Bobby Frederick, Vice President of Legislative Affairs\r\nand Public Policy for the National Grain and Feed Association. NESP will make\r\nAmerican Agriculture more competitive through the construction of seven new\r\n1,200-foot locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway.\r\nThis additional capacity will reduce potential commercial barge traffic\r\ndisruptions, help discipline rail rates and alleviate highway congestion, all\r\nwhile transporting commodities via the most environmentally friendly mode. With over fifty percent of all corn for export being\r\ntransported on the inland waterway system, corn farmers rely heavily on\r\nefficient and reliable infrastructure of locks and dams, said John Linder,\r\nPresident of the National Corn Growers Association. We're thankful for\r\nCongresswoman Bustos, Congressman Smith, Senator Durbin, and Senator Blunt\r\nbringing attention to this important issue to ensure our growers are able to\r\nmove their product efficiently and stay competitive. As America's #1 export crop with an average export value of\r\nmore than $16 billion, we rely on U.S. inland waterways infrastructure to stay\r\ncompetitive in dynamic global markets, said Bill Gordon, President of the\r\nAmerican Soybean Association and soy farmer from Worthington, Minnesota. The\r\nAmerican Soybean Association appreciates the Corps' previous allocation of\r\nfunds through NESP to improve locks along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois\r\nrivers, and we again look to the Corps to assure these vital improvements come\r\nto fruition through the FY2021 Work Plan. As America's soybean farmers are\r\nharvesting the 2020 crop this fall, the timeliness of these water\r\ninfrastructure projects is all the more evidentand pressingfor our continued\r\neconomic success. Text of the letter can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-blunt-and-durbin-reps-smith_bustos-lead-bipartisan-bicameral-call-for-corps-to-fund-upper-mississippi-water-infrastructure-projects"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9186435490846634, "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"}