(trngre uf thB lflnife 5ffB

fflEshingtsn, E@ 5f5

November

20,

20L2

President Barack Obama The !hite House West !ing 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

lashington,

N. W.

DC 2 0500
Obama:

Dear President

As you develop your FY2014 budget, we ask that you take a keen l-ook at the needs of Oregon and Iashington smalf coastal haterways. these small ports and harbors are some of our naton's most vafuabfe assets and are criticaf to maintaining and creating jobs for these states. The international trade, recreationf boating and commercial fishing that takes place at these sma.l-I po.rts is more important to the economic heal-th of Oregon and Washington coastal port communities, and to our entire states, norr more than ever before.

Stifl, these federa] projects are overlooked and remain critica]ly underfunded. In FY 2013, most of the small ports on our coasts were compfete.Ly zeroed out in the Administration, s budget. White vre acknowledge the need for fiscal responsibility, now is not the time for our country to aflor"J vital coastal infrastructure projects to further deteriorate. V^ithout adequate funding, the navigation channels leading to these ports r^rilf silt in and the jetties protecting these cornmunities wilL crumb.le. Many have small popufations, and the ports provide employment for a significant proportion of these conmunites. lithout access to the ports, the main economic driver in these communities is gone.
During this period of economic recovery, we cannot afford to ignore our small ports. In the FY2012 omnibus spending bifl, S30 rnillion n additional Operations & Maintenance (OeM) funding was allocated t smafl-, remote or subsistence ha.rbors nationwide. It is likely a similar pot of money will be included n the FY2013 bil-l. This is a targeted effort by Congress to provide a lifeline to just a few smafl navigation projects around the country, but it is simp.ly not enough. le ask you to do better by these smll projects in the FY2014 budget, and include direct funding for our small ports. This is something that both the House and Senate FY2013 Energy and Water Devel-opment Appropriations biffs directed the Administraton to do, and we believe it is irresponsible to ignore this instruction. Until these projects are adequatefy addressed in the budget, there is l-ittle hope for smal]federal navigation projects in Oregon and Washington, or throughout the nation, to be maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

PRINTED ON RECYCIED PAPER

Noveber Page 2

President Brack Obam 20, 2072

one solution to these funding challenges that we encourage you to consider is full utilization of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) . As you are likely aware, the HMTF is meant to fund 100 of the cost of o&M of our nation's deep draft and coastal vJaterways. Collections far exceed budgeted funds for harbor maintenance. Annual HMT revenues total more than $1.58, while approximtely $800M of that is actually spent on its intended purpose. Meanwhile, our country's deep draft and smafl coastal projects remain vastly underfunded. Vle urge you to fully spend HMT col.lections on these vital projects, to ensure that the needs of both deep draft and small ports nationwide are adequate.ly addres sed.
We

ensure that our coastal ports in Oregon and Vlashington, and throughout the nation, remain open for business and continue to contribute to the economic health of our nation. T,eaving our small port needs unmet threatens the jobs of our citizens and weakens our nationaf economic competitiveness . We look forward to r^rorking $tith you to address this issue and we thank you for your efforts.

believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to

Sincerely,

Ron

wyden

, W"t^
Senate

#"/A
U,

m"I-&&
U.

fum,re
Congress
U.

S.

S,

S.

Congres s

c: Mr. Jeffrey zients, office of

Management & Budget