Florida Senators, Congressmen Focus on Port Everglades Expansion

The Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), which passed the U.S. House earlier this week and is expected to pass the U.S. Senate in the days to come, allows the expansion of Port Everglades if the Army Corps of Engineers gives the green light. To that end, Floridas two U.S. senators -- Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio -- along with two South Florida Democratic congresswomen -- Lois Frankel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz -- met with Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday to talk about Port Everglades. The Corps of Engineers is expected to release its final report by January 2015.

The Florida delegation stands together in making sure our ports, including Port Everglades, are equipped for the expansion of the Panama Canal, said Rubio. Todays meeting was a positive step forward, and I will continue to monitor the work of the Army Corps until the project at Port Everglades is finalized and completed.

We need to get this project done for the bigger ships that will come from the Panama Canal expansion, said Nelson. Thats going to create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

Progress on this expansion means lots of jobs for South Florida, said Frankel.

Im cautiously optimistic that the Army Corps is making progress on its feasibility study for the port expansion project, but remaining issues must quickly be resolved further delay is simply unacceptable, said Wasserman Schultz. Port Everglades is a major economic engine for South Florida and the port must be well-positioned to meet the changing international transportation needs of the 21st century.