Terri Sewell News

May 15, 2013 was a very good day for the nation’s barge and towing operators, as well as shippers of grain, coal, chemicals, petroleum products, aggregate materials, and agri-input products. It was also a good day for our nation’s economy and for its consumers. The Senate passed, by a vote of 83-14, a long-overdue Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), last reauthorized in 2007. Six years may not seem like a long time to await action on Capitol Hill. But since 57% of the locks and dams on the nation’s inland waterways system have exceeded their economic design life expectancy of 50 years…

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power, with Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL-12), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today filed the Waterways Are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency, and Environment Act of 2012 (WAVE4 Act) with bipartisan co-sponsorship. The Act aims to ensure safe, dependable, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable navigation on the U.S. inland waterway system. “Efficient and reliable transportation of goods on our inland waterways is essential to economic development, job creation, and remaining competitive in the global marketplace,” said Representative Whitfield.