directed towards locks and dams on our inland waterway system. What if we reduced the target for funding to the lock system only? Let the government fund the dam projects and use the Trust Fund dollars for lock construction projects only. The dams in our waterways system have many beneficiaries other than the barge towing industry, such as utilities, municipal water authorities and recreational users. With such a diverse group of beneficiaries, the government should take care of the construction costs for future dam projects. The Trust Fund dollars should be used for future lock construction only, thus shrinking the total dollars needed for the barge towing industry to fund.
Cornel Martin, Waterways Council, Inc.
About 600 million tons of America's building block commodities move on our inland waterways system annually. Increasing taxes on the inland waterways system at a time when the condition of the locks and dams themselves need significant improvements is a disjointed approach to the problem of funding the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. In these tough economic times we should be investing in and encouraging use of our inland waterways transportation system which is clearly the safest, most efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation available to move our bulk commodities.
Dale Roth, Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis & Vicinity
Increased cost of shipping on our inland waterways through the imposition of new taxes and user fees is a major concern for WCI members. The outline of the FY2010 budget released in late February contained a proposal to tax the industry with a new barge lockage fee. A similar proposal was floated last year but it was declared "dead on arrival" by a number of bi-partisan Congressional policymakers who rallied against the new tax. A tax increase remains very disconcerting for America's farmers, coal and energy producers, as well as shippers of aggregate and other materials who rely on low-cost transportation via the inland waterways to remain competitive in the world marketplace. And ultimately these additional costs are passed on to consumers in the way of increased energy or gas bills, higher food costs or increased costs of other bulk commodities shipped on our waterways.
www.marinelink.com
It is of primary importance for the stimulus funds to be passed through appropriations to construct these locks and dams so that the work can begin and our local economy can get on the road to recovery. The Workforce Development Act is also very important as it will provide new funding upon which we rely for our apprenticeship programs and journey level upgrade program. These Workforce Development dollars allow us to be certain that our members are completely up to date on all of the latest technologies with the skills and abilities to perform the work the Corps needs.
What does the marine industry need to do to raise its political clout? Royce C. Wilken, American River Transportation Company
Our forefathers all had one trait in common when it came to change and the evolution of our country�passion in what they believed.
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