U.S. harbor lobby cites “disturbing” spending on overseas port projects

U.S. harbor lobby cites “disturbing” spending on overseas port projects

U.S. harbor lobby cites “disturbing” spending on overseas port projects

   The National Harbor Association called the U.S. government’s diversion of taxpayer dollars to overseas port improvement projects “disturbing,” especially when the Army Corps of Engineer’s annual budget for American port maintenance and upgrades continues to come up short.
   The Washington-based lobby released a document to its members Monday that lists numerous overseas port improvement projects to which the U.S. government has committed money.
   The U.S. Agency for International Development, for example, has awarded $4.8 million for the assessment and management activities at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.
   In 2002, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency funded 16 feasibility studies for overseas ports mostly in developing countries. The studies generally range in cost between $200,000 to $500,000 each.
   In addition, the Bush administration created the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCA) this year, authorizing it to provide $1 billion in initial funding for fiscal year 2004 to development programs in overseas countries.
   “The MCA countries will be responsible for identifying development priorities — so if these countries feel that dredging is a priority, there is the potential for large sums of money to be spent on these types of projects,” the National Harbor Association warned.
   “While we support international aid, our own ports should not suffer budget shortfalls as a consequence,” the association said. “If we can find the money to fund waterways projects overseas, we should find the money to fund our own waterway projects.”