February 22, 2010

Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauds “relentless spirit,” consensus at Port of Houston in putting Recovery Act funds to work to create jobs

	Harris County Precinct Two Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Congressman Gene Green, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman Al Green.

Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the benefits of the $98.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds allocated to the Houston Ship Channel. Among those attending the roundtable session were Congressman Gene Green, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and Congressman Al Green and industry leaders, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, PHA Commissioners Kase Lawal, Janiece Longoria and Elyse Lanier, and PHA Chief Executive Officer Alec Dreyer.

These Recovery Act funds are one of the largest single allocations of federal funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to construct, operate and maintain the Houston Ship Channel.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi saluted Gene Green, Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green for their leadership and attributed the port’s success in obtaining the much-needed recovery funds to local support and consensus.

“The relentless spirit of the Port of Houston and its collaboration across business and labor with both the public and private sector is a model for the nation on how to get it done,” Pelosi said. “These recovery funds for the Houston Ship Channel have brought about much-needed jobs creation. While an estimated 2,640 direct and indirect construction jobs have already been generated, thousands and thousands of industry jobs will be created.”

The funding is being applied to major maintenance, operations and environmental projects associated with the 52-mile-long ship channel, which serves the Port of Houston – the nation’s largest port in terms of foreign waterborne tonnage and second largest in terms of total tonnage.

The Port of Houston Authority also applied for and received $2.8 million in Recovery Act funds through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program. In addition to the reduced emissions benefit, the grant is estimated to have created approximately 151 jobs.

One of the largest ports in the world, the Port of Houston is made up of the Port of Houston Authority and more than 150 private industrial companies along the Houston Ship Channel, which is home to the second-largest petrochemical complex in the world. The ship channel is a critical component of the regional and national economy.

The Port of Houston is a major economic engine for the region, state and nation. The Recovery Act funding is helping to strengthen the port’s position as a stimulus for the economy by continuing to contribute 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs and $285 billion of economic activity for the nation.

The recovery funding goes a long way toward closing the five-year funding shortfall of the Houston Ship Channel. PHA hopes to secure the remaining $41 million needed through increased FY2011 appropriations.