WASHINGTON - Congressman Andy Barr released the following statement regarding passage of the H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, bipartisan legislation that cuts red tape and streamlines the infrastructure project process while promoting fiscal responsibility and strengthening our maritime transportation networks:
“Waterway infrastructure is critical to Kentucky trade and competitiveness. Here in the Commonwealth, our waterways and ports support 15,640 Kentucky jobs and directly contribute $2.5 billion to our local economy while our $22 billion international export industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“It is therefore critical that we maintain our ports and waterway system to protect these jobs and help Kentucky’s farmers, manufacturers and businesses compete on a global scale.
“That is why I support passage of H.R. 3080, a fiscally responsible bill that keeps faith with the Constitutional responsibility for supporting interstate commerce, strengthens our maritime transportation network, eliminates $12 billion in previously authorized but inactive projects, contains no earmarks, roots out waste and improves accountability for taxpayers.”
Kentucky Jobs Data from the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce:
• Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 6.9 percent of Kentucky’s total private-sector employment.
• Nearly one-quarter of all manufacturing workers in Kentucky depend on exports for their jobs and thousands of Kentucky businesses are sustained by exports.