Daysi+&+Jiawen

1ac – plan

The United States federal government should substantially increase its investment in expedited port deepening projects in the United States.

1ac – economy
Contention 1 – seaport competitiveness

The Panama Canal expansion will fundamentally change seaborne commerce – US ports require new harbor deepening or they won~’t be able to compete for post-Panamax ships

Bridges 2011 – Chairman of the Board of the American Association of Port Authorities and Executive Director of Virginia Port Authority (Jerry A., "Testimony of Jerry A. Bridges Chairman of the Board of the American Association of Port Authorities and Executive Director of Virginia Port Authority before the United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Hearing: the Economic importance of Seaports: Is the United States Prepared for 21 ^^st^^ Century Trade Realities?", October 26, 2011, [[ [Bridges.pdf])//MM-http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26 Darcy.pdf)//MM]]

Since the birth of our nation, U.S. seaports and waterways that AND infrastructure, including landside and waterside access to seaports. We cannot wait.

The perception of a federal commitment to port infrastructure is vital to retain foreign customers – this will collapse the recovery Calhoun 11 — President of Cargo Carriers (Cargill) and Chairman of Waterways Council, Inc (Rick, "DREDGING FOR PROSPERITY", Marine Log, August, ProQuest, []") EL

Just like the nation itself, AND not a cost, in the future of our inland waterways transportation system.

Federal port infrastructure funding is increasing but not substantially for new harbor deepening – the federal government~’s uncertain commitment prevents new projects Szakonyi 12 — associate editor of the Journal of Commerce (Mark, "The Hill Ramping Up Dredging Efforts", Journal of Commerce, 5/7, ProQuest) EL

The push by U.S. ports for more AND meaningful long-term decisions.

Federal regulations prevent other actors from solving – only federal action to streamline the process and increase funding solves Anderson, 11 –Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) (A. Paul, "testimony of A. Paul Anderson Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) for the Record of the united States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment Hearing: "The Economic Importance of Seaports: Is the United States Prepared for 21st Century Trade Realities?"", October 26, 2011, [[ [Anderson.pdf])//MM-http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26 Darcy.pdf)/MM]]

With increasingly larger ships calling the East Coast, it is now more crucial than AND of the law, as expressly stated in Sec. 2034 (h). Because of procedural delay, most East Coast ports are not authorized to dredge to AND process for prioritizing, approving and funding critical infrastructure projects is fundamentally broken.

And these federal regulations mean any new projects will take decades unless the federal government expedites construction Nagle, 2012 - President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (Kurt J., "Testimony of Kurt J. Nagle President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities Before the United States House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subommittee", Budget Hearing- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Assistant Secretary, Chief of Engineers, March 7, 2012, [Mar2012 Final.pdf)/MM]

First, the funding level of the Corps of Engineers~’ new construction budget has decreased AND resulting in job loss, worsening road congestion, and less competitive exports. Some may suggest that we should concentrate federal investment in just a few ports, AND . Total throughput should not be the only calculation in determining federal investment. The second troubling trend that impacts our ability to be ready for the challenges of AND encouraging this through effective federal project development processes, investments and funding.5 As our nation recovers from its economic troubles, we know that cargo growth will AND port infrastructure so that we can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Seaport competitiveness is the vital internal link to US economic growth – seaports represent a quarter of US GDP and contribute over 3 trillion to the economy Nagle, 11 —- president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Port Authorities (December 2011, Kurt, Industry Today, "Association: American Association of Port Authorities; Port-Related Infrastructure Investments Can Reap Dividends," vol. 14, no. 3, [])

It seems the U nited S tates … federal navigation channels.

Lack of port deepening forces light loading – this will break the US shipping industry Weakley 8 – Realize America~’s Maritime promise, Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Fairness Coalition, testimony of James Weakley the president of the Lake Carriers~’ Association (James, "Realize America~’s Maritime Promise", Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Fairness Coalition, 4/30/08, [])//MM

Port-related jobs are critical to … and not merely for deficit reduction.

Strong US growth is key to promoting an American economic model – the alternative is mercantilism, which destroys economic cooperation and risks protectionism Posen 9 – Deputy director and senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Adam, "Economic leadership beyond the crisis," http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/foresight/documents/PN%20USA_FINAL_LR_1.pdf)

In the postwar period, US power and prestige, beyond the nation~’s military might AND rise to the challenge, it should concentrate on the following priority measures.

Increasing exports decrease the trade deficit and makes growth sustainable – prevents investment bubbles and collapses Istrate et al, 10 — senior research analyst and associate fellow with the Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative (Emilia, "Export Nation: How U.S. Metros Lead National Export Growth and Boost Competitiveness", July, Brookings, [mountain exports muro/0726_exports_istrate_rothwell_katz.pdf] ) // NK

Exports Could Contribute … solution to many long-standing difficulties.

Boosting economic competitiveness is vital to preventing military retrenchment – risks great power wars Khalilzad, ~’11 – Bush~’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the UN and former director policy planning at the DOD (Zalmay, "The Economy and National Security", National Review, 2-8-11, [])

Today, economic and fiscal trends .. era of multi-polarity.

Protectionism will cause terrorism and global wars – risks extinction Panzner 8 – faculty at the New York Institute of Finance, 25-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets who has worked in New York and London for HSBC, Soros Funds, ABN Amro, Dresdner Bank, and JPMorgan Chase (Michael, "Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse," p. 136-138)

Continuing calls for curbs on the flow of finance and trade will inspire the United AND between Muslims and Western societies as the beginnings of a new world war.

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That goes nuclear without leadership Mandelbaum, 5 – Professor and Director of the American Foreign Policy Program at Johns Hopkins – 2005 [Michael, The Case for Goliath: How America Acts As the World~’s Government in the Twenty-First Century, p. 224]

At best, an American withdrawal would bring with it some of the political anxiety AND and because of the presence, in large numbers, of nuclear weapons.

Agriculture
And Now On To Agriculture Advantage

U.S. agriculture exports are facing a crisis of competitiveness
AgriMoney, 2/20 - investors~’ link to the food chain. The increasing numbers of mouths to feed, the demand for ever-more sophisticated diets, and the potential for turning food into fuel has turned the growing business into big business. Agriculture, to which financial markets owe a debt of history, is back at the forefront of investment thinking. ("US crop exports face ~’crisis of competitiveness~’", Agrimoney.Com, 2/20/12, []

US grain exporters face a "crisis of competitiveness" which is seeing foreign rivals AND ripe conditions for the spread of fungi, including those which produce vomitoxin.

Sustaining US agricultural exports depends on capacity upgrades in port infrastructure Khachatryan and Casavant 11 —Research Associate and Director/Professor at the Freight Policy Transportation Institute at the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State Unviersity (Hayk and Ken, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN U.S. TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE, [], EL)

The efficient and affordable freight transportation system that facilitates the linkage to international markets has AND PNW) economy to the rest of the world through the 16 ports.

The Panama Canal expansion will shift global trade patterns away from the Gulf Coast without port upgrades – this cuts off US grain exports Stallman, 2012 – President of the American Farm Bureau (Bob, "Update Our Ports or Miss the Boat", American Farm Bureau, April 2012, []) //MGD

Someone once said that it~’s not we will literally miss the boat.

1ac – solvency

Contention 4 – solvency
Now Solvency

The federal government is key – port infrastructure is under federal jurisdiction and federal action is vital to leadership AAPA, 11 - AAPA represents 160 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 300 sustaining and associate members, firms and individuals with an interest in seaports (American Association of Port Authorities, "The U.S. Government~’s Historic Role in Developing and Maintaining Landside and Waterside Connections to Seaports", March 2011, [and the Constitution1.pdf)//GP]

Over time these constitutional … and prioritized.