Despite a massive surplus in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund – Port Maintenance is underfunded now
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- AT: No Funding
- Only 5 billion is needed to make US seaports capable of trade, post Panama expansion.
- AT: Can’t 100% Screen
**Solvency**Federal Funding KeyFederal gov investment in navigation infrastructure is keyGulf Coast Business 4-4-12 (Gulf Coast Business, April 4, 2012, weekly newspaper for business leaders on the Gulf Coast of Florida.” Investments in seaports essential (Bridges)” http://aapa.files.cmsplus.com/PDFs/Investments%20in% 20seaports%20essential%20-%20al_com%20-%204-4-2012.pdf 6-26-12) MB Since the birth of our nation, United States seaports and the waterways that connect them have served as a vital economic lifeline by bringing goods and services to people around the world and by delivering prosperity to our nation. Seaports facilitate trade and commerce, create jobs, help secure our borders, support our military and serve as stewards of valuable coastal environmental resources. They are responsible for moving more than 99 percent of our country's overseas cargo, while international trade accounts for more than a quarter of America's Gross Domestic Product. America's seaports support 13.3 million U.S. jobs, which account for $649 billion in annual personal income. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for every $1 billion in manufactured goods exported through America's seaports, 15,000 U.S. jobs are created. Although our nation's ports are dynamic, vibrant centers of trade and commerce, they rely on partnerships. U.S. seaports and their marine terminal partners anticipate investing about $8 billion annually over the next five years to maintain and improve their infrastructure. Unfortunately, the federal government isn't adequately matching this commitment with investments in connecting land- and waterside infrastructure to effectively handle increased cargo volumes. This lack of federal foresight could create inefficiencies in moving cargo to and from ports, causing time delays, cost increases, reduced international competitiveness for U.S. exports and product shortages for consumers. Despite there being a federal Harbor Maintenance Tax on seaport cargo that raises 100 percent of the cost for periodically dredging America's harbors and channels to their authorized dimensions, only about half of that money is being appropriated for its intended purpose, resulting in serious dredging needs being neglected. With regard to constructing deeper channels, federal funding for new projects has all but disappeared, although project sponsors -- usually ports -- pay between 35 percent and 60 percent of the cost, depending on project depth. Investments in seaports essential connections with ports have also been a low federal priority, with little of the highway funds going to freight transportation projects. The only bright light has been the recent federal transportation infrastructure (TIGER) grants, although not enough has benefited port-related infrastructure. As we recover from the economic downturn, we must make investments today to address the trade realities of the future. Ship sizes continue to get larger, requiring ongoing modernization of ports and federal navigation channels, even for ports that don't require 50 feet of depth. Panama has recognized the need to modernize and has under way a major expansion of the Panama Canal slated for completion in 2014. Canada and Mexico are also making significant investments which could result in losses of U.S. maritime jobs as cargo enters the U.S. through these countries. We've already seen this job loss on the West Coast. Furthermore, the U.S. seeks to double exports. However, countries like Brazil and Chile, which compete against the U.S. in terms of agricultural exports, are making investments that could make their exports more competitive. In addition to these near-term challenges, we know that the U.S. population is forecast to grow by 100 million a 30 percent increase before the middle of the century, and many of the goods used by this population will flow through seaports. While ports are planning for the future, the federal government hasn't kept pace with the industry or our international competitors. The federal government has a unique Constitutional responsibility to maintain and improve the infrastructure that enables the flow of commerce, and much of that infrastructure in and around seaports has been neglected for too long. Many of our land and water connections are insufficient and outdated, affecting the ports' ability to move cargo efficiently. This hurts U.S. business, U.S. workers and our national economy. Federal investments in seaports are an essential and effective utilization of limited resources, paying dividends through increased trade and commerce, long-term job creation, secure borders, military support, environmental stewardship, and more than $200 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue. All of this raises the question: What must the nation do to ready its ports for the future? First, the federal government must make funding for dredging a higher priority; Congress must pass a Surface Transportation bill that results in more funding for port, freight and landside infrastructure, including the TIGER program; and Congress must not cut or eliminate the Port Security Grant Program or environmental programs, such as the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act that provides grants that ports use to lower pollutants from trucks, trains, ships and other "transient" sources. On another front, new trade agreements with Korea, Panama and Colombia were recently approved, and other trade agreements are under negotiation. Trade agreements such as these should be encouraged because they result in more U.S.-made products being sold overseas, more goods moving across port docks to fuel our economy, and more jobs being created to handle all those goods. As our nation recovers from its economic troubles, cargo volumes will continue to grow. As our nation invests in transportation infrastructure, we must ensure that ports and their needs to efficiently move freight are high on the list. Today, we face enormous challenges and ports are making the necessary investments to build and maintain a world-class maritime transportation system, which supports U.S. jobs, our global competitiveness, and our economy. We need our federal partner to make that commitment, too. AT: No FundingHMTF will be over 7 billion dollars.Haesah, author for Maritime Musings, 12 (Haesah, 5/24/12, Maritime Musings, http://maritimemusings.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/a-little-on-the-hmtf-but-not-much/, accessed 6/26/12, AS) In its original form, all imported, exported and domestic cargo at U.S. seaports were assessed a tax of 0.04% of the cargo value. (Frittelli, 2011). The tax was later increased to 0.125% of the cargo value. A 1998 Supreme Court decision found that exported cargo was not subject to the HMT due to the constitutional clause stating that the Federal government shall not tax cargo exported from any state (Frittelli, 2011). It is estimated that by October 2012, the HMTF balance will be in excess of $7 billion (“H R 112-462,” 2012). Only 5 billion is needed to make US seaports capable of trade, post Panama expansion.USA Today, 12 (6-21-12, “Price tag to dredge Eastern ports for big ships: $5 billion”, p.1, AS) U.S. seaports in the Southeast likely need up to $5 billion to deepen their shipping channels so they can trade with super-size cargo ships expected to arrive soon through an expanded Panama Canal, a federal agency said Thursday in a report to Congress. Richard Burkhart, AP file A container ship in the port of Savannah, Ga. Enlarge Richard Burkhart, AP file A container ship in the port of Savannah, Ga. Sponsored Links The report, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is in response to Congress' request to examine improvement needs among the nation's ports as local governments scramble for federal funds to deepen their harbors to make room for a growing fleet of giant commercial ships. The East Coast has only three ports —New York, Baltimore and Norfolk, Va. — with waterways deep enough to accept the fully loaded ships regardless of tides. The Southeast, forecast to undergo the nation's biggest growth in population and trade, remains too shallow from Virginia to South Florida and across the Gulf to Texas. The need for expanding port capacity "is likely to be most critical along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf coasts," the report said. That's because no shipping channels are at least 50 feet deep, which will be required for the ships — many from China and other Asian countries — that will begin using the Panama Canal after a major expansion is completed by the end of 2014. AT: Can’t 100% Screen100% screening viable; new technology enablesSCDigest, editorial, 5(8-4-5, “The Future of Cargo Security- Port of Hong Kong Implements New Screening Technology”, SCDigest, AS) According to an article last week in the Wall Street Journal, the port of Hong Kong has implemented new screening technology that radically improves the level of security for container movements. Ports and containers have long been a worry spot for security and anti-terrorism professionals. To date, security has mostly involved human intelligence and inspection of shipping manifests looking for suspicious cargo – both of which have very limited effectiveness. Most estimates say less than 6% of the seven million containers bound for the U.S. are deemed “high risk” by officials and pulled out for detailed inspection. The reality is that the chances of dangerous cargo – from weapons to a “dirty bomb” – getting through are probably quite high. For the past year, the Hong Kong Terminal Operators Association, which includes both public and private entities, has used high tech screening machines made by Science Application International of San Diego to inspect every container. “Trucks haul each container passing though the port through two of the giant scanners,” the WSJ wrote. “One checks for nuclear radiation, while the other uses gamma rays to seek out any dense, suspicious object made of steel or lead inside the container that could shield a bomb from the nuclear detector.” Not only are the images from the scan displayed on large flat panel screens for security personnel to examine, the images are recorded along with the container ID and other information. That data can then be passed along to other ports or security officials for any suspicious cargo, or to help identify the bad guys if a security problem does occur later. In addition to stopping dangerous cargo before it enters the supply chain, the technology has the potential to minimize the impact to the world economy if a problem does occur. Just as companies with poor tracking systems must recall all products if a problem is found in just a small batch, a terrorism issue could cause virtually all international shipping to stop. Using this technology, containers from a specific location or shipper, or with a specific scan profile, could be quarantined, allowing other containers to keep moving. Estimated costs for the new system are $6.50 per container, if ultimately passed on to shippers. Surprisingly, interest from U.S. Homeland Security in this type of technology has been limited. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. 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