Sierra+&+Alayna

=1ac= Our aff is port dredging and our advantages are econ, agriculture, and cotton

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 21st Century Trade Realities?”, October 26, 2011, [|http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/Media/file/TestimonyWater/2011-10-26%20Bridges.pdf][|)//MM]

Since the birth of our nation,
 * 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 __


 * The perception of a federal commitment to port infrastructure is vital to __retain foreign customers__ –key to no collapse **
 * 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,


 * Boosting economic competitiveness is vital to US global leadership and 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, **__<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">economic and fiscal trends __**<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 17.3333px;">Protectionism will cause terrorism and global wars – risks extinction **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Panzner 8 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> – 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)


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Continuing calls for curbs __**

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">[Michael, The Case for Goliath: How America Acts As the World’s Government in the Twenty-First Century, p. 192-195]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Economic leadership prevents bubbles and economic collapse—leadership key to resilience **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Mandelbaum **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">, **5** – Professor and Director of the American Foreign Policy Program at Johns Hopkins – 2005

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.33333px;">Although the spread of nuclear

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">[Michael, The Case for Goliath: How America Acts As the World’s Government in the Twenty-First Century, p. 224]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">That goes nuclear without leadership **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Mandelbaum, 5 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> – Professor and Director of the American Foreign Policy Program at Johns Hopkins – 2005

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">At best, an American

1ac – agriculture

 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Contention 2 – agriculture **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 17.3333px;">U.S. agriculture exports are facing a crisis of competitiveness **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">AgriMoney, 2/20 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> - 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. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">(“US crop exports face 'crisis of competitiveness'”, Agrimoney.Com, 2/20/12, <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> [|http://www.agrimoney.com/news/us-crop-exports-face-crisis-of-competitiveness--4179.html)//GP]

__<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">US grain exporters face a __

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">IMPROVEMENTS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE, [], EL)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Sustaining US agricultural exports depends on __capacity upgrades__ in port infrastructure **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Khachatryan and Casavant 11 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">—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

__<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">The efficient and affordable __


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">The Panama Canal expansion will shift global trade patterns away from the Gulf Coast without port upgrades – this cuts off US grain exports **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Stallman, 2012 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> – President of the American Farm Bureau (Bob, “Update Our Ports or Miss the Boat”, American Farm Bureau, April 2012, []) //MGD

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Someone once said t


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">The collapse of U.S. agricultural competitiveness turns every impact and makes extinction inevitable **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Lugar, 4 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> – U.S. Senator – Indiana, (Richard, “Plant Power” Our Planet v. 14 n. 3, http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/143/lugar.html

__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">In a world confronted __ **__ 1ac- cotton __** Farm Bill legislation is not
 * Ports are key to cotton export competitiveness**
 * Harris, 7** — associate editor at Cotton Grower magazine (Drew, “Paradigm Shift Changes Market For The US Cotton Grower”, May, ProQuest, EL)


 * Port expansion is key to increased cotton exports only plan solves **
 * __ Costa and Rossen, 12 __** - Ph.D. Candidate and Research Assistant, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M, Professor Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M (Rafael and Parr, "THE IMPACTS OF THE PANAMA CANAL EXPANSION ON WORLD COTTON", pg. 2 &3, [|www.trforum.org/forum/downloads/2012_55_Panama_Canal_Expansion_Cotton.pdf])


 * __The U.S. cotton industry__**


 * The Chinese textile industry is on the brink of collapse – rising costs**
 * __PRC Ministry of Commerce 2008__** (4/25, "Chinese textile firms struggle to survive in 2008", China Textile Network Company, []) //EL

__Textile firms__, once


 * Port expansion is key to increased cotton exports**
 * __Rossen et al, 11__** - Professor/Extension Economist and Director at the Center for North American Studies (Parr, "Impacts of Transportation Infrastructure on the U.S. Cotton Industry", May, Center for North American, cnas.tamu.edu/AMS%20Cotton%20Transportation%20Report%20June%202011.pdf) // NK

The **__new Panama Canal__**.


 * US cotton exports are key to the Chinese textile industry**
 * __Asia Times 06__** - 12/6 [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HL06Cb01.html, “China's cotton conundrum”) EL

__Quantity import of__
 * And, the textile industry is key to China’s economy - jobs**
 * __Face Zhang 2008__** (June 6, "Pessimism in the Chinese Textile Industry", []) EL

A recent research report


 * A Chinese downturn spills over – leads to a global depression**
 * __Shenkar, 05__** - Ford Motor Company Chair in Global Business Management, Professor of Management, Fisher College of Business, (The Chinese Century, p. 173) //EL

__A doomsday scenario__

1ac – solvency

 * Solvency**


 * The federal government is key – port infrastructure is under __federal jurisdiction__ and federal action is vital to __leadership__** **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">AAPA, 11 **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> - 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, [|http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/Transportation%20and%20the%20Constitution1.pdf)//GP]

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.6667px;">Over time these constitutional


 * U.S. key - accounts for one third of all grains in the global market**
 * Moulds 7/20**-, Josephine-Josephine Moulds, Freelance Journalist and Writer, Havana, Cuba, 2010. Published in The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph -The Guardian (London), July 20, 2012 Friday ([]) MK

Record cereal