ILWU Local 4 member Cager Clabaugh met with U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Port of Vancouver USA Executive Director Larry Paulson about a plan to increase exports. Click on the photo to read the original Columbian article.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on Tuesday announced she will push federal lawmakers to create a national freight strategy that includes dedicated funding for port infrastructure projects, including the Port of Vancouver USA’s West Vancouver Freight Access project. In order to meet President Obama’s goal to double American exports within five years, multimodal freight transportation must become a national priority, Cantwell said during her visit to the port on Tuesday.
Cantwell hasn’t yet determined the amount of funding she plans to request for freight projects under the proposal, she said. But if she succeeds, port officials plan to seek $25 million of the funding for the port’s freight access project, said a port spokesperson. Access to such port-specific funding will be critical to obtaining the $50 million to $70 million the Port of Vancouver must raise to complete its $137 million freight access project over the next seven years, she said.