Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Coast Guard officials were in Green Bay March 1, 2024 to advocate for the expansion of icebreaking to keep the Great Lakes region's economy afloat. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A congressional lawmaker and Coast Guard officials were in Green Bay Friday to advocate for the expansion of icebreaking to keep the Great Lakes region’s economy afloat.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) hosted the hearing at the Neville Public Museum. She chairs the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change and Manufacturing, which oversees the U.S. Coast Guard and the Great Lakes.
The Coast Guard is the only federal entity equipped to perform icebreaking on American waterways. It currently has nine Great Lakes icebreakers, only one of which is a heavy icebreaker. That vessel has been in service for 17 years.
In her remarks Friday, Baldwin discussed why icebreaking during the winter months is crucial to sustaining the movement of goods that powers the regional economy.
Three of the worst Great Lakes ice seasons of the past several decades occurred during the past ten years and, during these three years combined, inadequate icebreaking cost our region’s economy approximately two billion dollars and ten thousand jobs due to reductions in maritime commerce and resulting impacts on manufacturing industries.
From reliable supply chains, to saving lives and property from flooding, we need more icebreakers. That’s why I have consistently advocated for the acquisition of a new heavy Great Lakes icebreaker. I was proud to work with my colleagues to introduce the bipartisan Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act, which was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in December 2022. This bill authorized full funding for a new heavy Great Lakes icebreaker at $350 million.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am continuing to work to ensure we secure that funding. In the Senate we have bipartisan government funding legislation that includes $55 million for this new heavy icebreaker, and I have been – and will continue – to press my colleagues to pass this important funding bill. And I will continue to fight for full funding of the icebreaker and an on-time appropriations bill next year.
Baldwin said the importance of the Great Lakes Navigation System “cannot be overstated.”
“Commerce on the Great Lakes supports more than $20 billion dollars in regional economic activity, including 147,000 jobs and $10.5 billion dollars in wages that go directly to hard working individuals right here in our region,” Baldwin said. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports that the Great Lakes save the economy $3.9 billion dollars per year by providing a less costly way to transport goods.”
Baldwin said Green Bay was chosen as the location for the meeting not by happenstance, but because of its short distance to the “vital hub” that is the Port of Green Bay, which “generates jobs and supports economic activity that is so vital to Wisconsin and to the region.”
Other panel members included Admiral Linda Fagan, Commandant of the Coast Guard, and additional Coast Guard representatives. Business leaders who rely on the Great Lakes to transport goods were also featured speakers.
If you’d like to read the full remarks from each of the speakers, click here.
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