Hilah+&+Amelia+M.

**CONTENTION ONE IS THE ECONOMY**
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 * 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 …. We cannot wait.

Ituma 7-4 -12[“The United States' Supremacy and her place in Global Politics and the Geopolitics of the International System” Mathew Ituma; July 04, 2012; The author is a Ph.D. student at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Department of Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL.[]]jt
 * Strong trade means U.S leadership is strong now, but that will change after 2014**

Following the demise of the cold war in 1990s… my conception of a world government becomes tenable.


 * 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, … inland waterways transportation system.

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

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


 * 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, [|http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/EWTestimony%20Mar2012%20Final.pdf)//MM]

First, the funding level of the Corps … 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, @http://www.industrytoday.com/article_view.asp?ArticleID=F370)

It seems the U nited S tates willingly allows … is utilized to maintain 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… // intended purpose and not merely for deficit reduction.

Increasing exports decrease the trade deficit and makes growth sustainable – prevents investment bubbles and collapses
) // NK
 * 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, []

Exports Could Contribute to the Rebalancing…increasing exports relative to imports can be part of the 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 …leading the world toward a new, dangerous era of multi-polarity.


 * Expanding port infrastructure is vital to US global economic leadership**
 * Kiefer et al, 2k** – principal investigator for Planning and Management Consultants– study authorized by Section 401 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999, report to the US Army Corps of Engineers (Jack, Planning and Management Consultants, “The National Dredging Needs Study of Ports and Harbors Implications to Cost-Sharing of Federal Deep Draft Navigation Projects Due to Changes in the Maritime Industry”, May 2000, []) // CB

2.2.2 Other Tangible Benefits Indirect benefits of Corps projects include … trade are widespread and are not limited to a handful of coastal states.

Unipolarity is durable – in depth studies of major factors in international relations
Michael Beckley 20 12 - PhD student at Columbia University and a predoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (The Unipolar Era: Why American Power Persists and China’s Rise Is Limited, Columbia University)

The conventional wisdom … international relationship scholarship and policy.
Knowing that American hegemony … preserve it as long as possible.
 * Even if they win collapse is inevitable, we should retain leadership for as long as possible**
 * Thayer, 07** – Associate Professor in the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Missouri State University (Bradley A., American Empire, Routledge, page 105)


 * America will cling to a false unipolar reality post-transition—even anti-hegemonic authors agree**
 * Mearsheimer 11** John J. Mearsheimer, the “R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago” Jan/Feb 2011 “Imperial By Design” http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0059.pdf

The downward spiral the United States … and then leave once the potential hegemon is checked.

The Panama Canal expansion means the US will try to export liquid natural gas to Europe

 * Eaton, 2012 ** – reporter for the Houston Business Journal (Collin, “Economists differ on Panama Canal expansion's impact “, Houston Business Journal, May 29 2012, []) // MGD

Economists at a recent … but it won’t necessarily be a game-changer.

This requires increasing US harbor deepening to be successful

 * Ebinger et al. 12** -- Task Force Co-Chair of Brookings Institution Natural Gas Task Force("Evaluating the Prospects for Increased Exports of Liquefied Natural Gas from the United States", January, p. 15, Brookings, www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/1/natural%20gas%20ebinger/natural_gas_ebinger_2.pdf)//GP

Shipping Capacity The successful export of LNG will depend … dramatic decline in shipping costs to Asia. 40

Expanding US LNG exports is vital to ending European gas dependence on Russia

 * Hulbert, 5/26** – a Lead Analyst at European Energy Review and consultant to a number of governments, most recently as Senior Research Fellow, Netherlands Institute for International Relations (Clingendael), was previously Senior Research Fellow at ETH Zurich working on energy and political risk. He started work in the City of London, advising on energy markets and political risk, as Senior Energy Analyst at Datamonitor for leading global utilities, and headed up the Global Issues Desk at Control Risks Group, specializing in political risk, geopolitics and security analysis for multinational companies, governments and institutional investors. He was also seconded to work in Washington, D.C., to enhance CRG's political risk offerings in North America. (Matthew, “Why American Natural Gas Will Change The World”, Forbes, **5/26/12**, [|http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewhulbert/2012/05/26/why-american-natural-gas-will-change-the-world/)//GP]

Europe will watch …US LNG by 2020 than it manages to frack in its own backyard.

Russia’s monopoly on natural gas threatens Eurasian security and pro-democracy efforts

 * Baran, 7 -** senior fellow and director of the Center for Eurasian Policy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. **(**Zenyo, “ EU Energy Security: Time to End Russian Leverage,” THE WASHINGTON QUARTERLY AUTUMN 2007, [])

The lack of reliable and sustainable …dangers of terrorism, extremism, and drug trafﬁcking in Central Asia and the Caucasus would increase.

That Causes Eurasian instability

 * Asmus, 8** - Executive Director of the Transatlantic Center at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, in Brussels, From 1997 to 2000, he served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Ronald, “ Europe's Eastern Promise; Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement,” Foreign Affairs. New York: Jan/Feb 2008. [])

IN THE early 1990S, after the Iron Curtain lifted, … **autocratic, nationalist Russia is on the rise.**

That results in Nuclear War

 * Mcdermott 11** - specializes in Russian and Central Asian defense and security issues and is a Senior Fellow in Eurasian Military Studies, The Jamestown Foundation, Washington DC, Senior International Research Fellow for the Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and Affiliated Senior Analyst, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen. McDermott is on the editorial board of Central Asia and the Caucasus and the scientific board of the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies. He recently wrote The Reform of Russia’s Conventional Armed Forces: Problems, Challenges and Policy Implications (Roger, “General Makarov Highlights the “Risk” of Nuclear Conflict”, 12/6/11, The Jamestown Foundation, [])//GP

In the current election season the …Cold War would wish **to chew** on.

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

Obama has expedited approval for projects, but not allocated funds – our aff is still inherent, but you don’t have any disads.
//__The White House …__// all remaining federal reviews//__.”__
 * Morgan and Rabin 7/19** – Miami Herald reporter, environment reporter (Curtis and Charles, “White House Speeds Up Permits, Offers No New Cash For Port Miami Dredge Project”, The Miami Herald, July 21 2012, [])//CB//

And the status quo is only expediting 5 ports - prioritizing funding shortchanges small ports and destroys competitiveness
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]

Some may …determining federal investment.


 * Ports are upgrading docks and landside transportation infrastructure – solves their alt causes – the plan is key to dredge a sufficient number of ports**
 * AP, 2012** by RUSS BYNUM and BRUCE SMITH (“Charleston and other Southeast, Gulf port cities need deeper waterways; Corps of Engineers,” 6/22/12, http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20120622/PC05/120629718/1010/charleston-and-other-southeast-gulf-port-cities-need-deeper-waterways-corps-of-engineers)//AM

__The deepening projects…__ required to pay a greater share.


 * 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, [|http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/Transportation%20and%20the%20Constitution1.pdf)//GP]

Over time these constitutional responsibilities … be recognized and prioritized.


 * Federal leadership is vital to expediting new projects and coordinating federal agencies – it creates faster infrastructure development**
 * Woodley 8**— Chairman – PIANC (Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses) USA (John Paul, “Dredging key to keeping nation’s economy afloat”, Seaports Magazine, [], Summer) EL

Like many nations, the United States … America’s economy strong for generations to come.

The plan will allow the US to double exports in the next 5 years
It's just before noon on a recent weekday, and the nation's fastest-growing container shipping port is bustling with activity. Massive, 10-story-high cranes, each shaped like an upside down "U," lift tractor-trailer-size containers onto and off cargo ships at dockside. A station checking for radioactivity in containers leaving the port clicks right along, while a non-stop stream of trucks enters and leaves the 1,200-acre facility. The freight moving through here touches the lives of people in 15 states, some 44% of the nation's population. Even more critically, as the USA …This will keep us very competitive."
 * USA Today 11** – news agency (Larry Copeland, “A goal to be port of call for all; U.S. sites digging in to accommodate big ships,” USA Today, October 3, 2011, lexis)//CBs

Federal leadership is key – jurisdictional infighting and budgets prevent other actors from solving

 * Reid, 8** - Senior Editor, Civil Engineering Magazine, American Civil Society of Engineers (Robert, “The Infrastructure Crisis”, Civil Engineering Magazine, January, [])

But today such projects …unacceptable level of risk.”