Catherine+&+Dale

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

=**Contention 1 – seaport competitiveness**=


 * The Panama Canal expansion makes it so that US ports require __new harbor deepening__, otherwise other countries will pass us in 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]

Since the birth of our nation, U.S. seaports and waterways ... 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 economic 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, ... in the future of our inland waterways transportation system.


 * Federal port infrastructure funding is increasing but not enough 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 federal dredging dollars is finally beginning to make waves in Congress__ ...more meaningful long-term decisions.

**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 United States willingly allows infrastructure to crumble as  other countries – ... from the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) is utilized to maintain federal navigation channels.


 * Lack of port deepening forces __light loading__ – port inefficency 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 // augment // our economy //... their intended purpose and not merely for deficit reduction.

**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 pose the most severe long-term threat to the U nited S tates’ ... leading the world toward a new, dangerous era of multi-polarity.


 * 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)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">In the postwar period, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">US powerand prestige, beyond the nation's military might, ... it should concentrate on the following priority measures.

**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)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Continuing calls for curbs on the flow of <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;"> finance and <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">trade will inspire the U <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">nited <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">S <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">tates... between Muslims and Western societies as the beginnings of a new world war.

=**Contention 2 – agriculture**=

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, [|http://www.agrimoney.com/news/us-crop-exports-face-crisis-of-competitiveness--4179.html)//GP]

__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">US grain exporters face a "crisis of competitiveness __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">" which is seeing foreign rivals raise market share... 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)

__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">The efficient and affordable freight transportation system that facilitates the linkage... __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">The CSRS links the Pacific Northwest (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

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">Someone once said that it’s not leaving port, but coming in, that determines the success of a voyage... __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Without this investment in infrastructure, we will literally miss the boat. __


 * The collapse of U.S. agricultural competitiveness turns every impact and makes extinction inevitable**


 * Lugar, 4** – U.S. Senator – Indiana, (Richard, “Plant Power” Our Planet v. 14 n. 3, http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/143/lugar.html

__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">In a world confronted by global terrorism, turmoil in the Middle East,... __ __<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">decisive humanitarian role in the survival of billions of people and the health of our planet __<span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">.

=**Contention 3 – solvency**=

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


 * //__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The White House on Thursday put Port Miami’s long-awaited dredging project on a list of fast-tracked,... __//**
 * Today’s announcements focus just on expediting all remaining federal reviews //__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 12pt;">.” __**

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">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]**


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">Over time these constitutional responsibilities have been further defined and.. **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">impact America’s economic vitality, jobs, and global competitiveness, be recognized and prioritized <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">. **

Federal leadership is vital to expediting new projects and coordinating federal agencies – it creates faster infrastructure development

Woodley Jr. 8**— Chairman – PIANC (Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses) USA (John Paul, “Dredging key to keeping nation’s economy afloat”, Seaports Magazine, [], Summer) EL

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">Like many nations, __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">the United States will be challenged over the next decade to be able to accommodate ... __ __we will do our part to keep 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.... __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 11pt;">"The steamship companies are going to go to those ports that can accommodate their ships. 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)//CB