extraneous material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. mfume: thank you very much, mr. speaker. let me begin by thanking the gentlewoman from texas for her opening remarks of this special hour dedicated to make sure that we underscore the sense of tragedy, the sense of loss and the sense of damage that has occurred as a result of the bridge collapse in baltimore. i want to thank her again for sitting in and standing in. your remarks are very well-received, we appreciate it, thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today shortly to welcome other members again who will be coming over to be a part of this special order. and i want to call everyone's attention to the fact that somewhere around 1:30 a.m. on

march 26, the dalia a large, 985-foot cargo ship, weighing 95,000 tons, went empty -- when empty, co-collided as we all know now tragically with the francis scott key bridge in baltimore. the dali's collision with the key bridge caused its fatal collapse into the river and has forced the port of baltimore to suspend vessel traffic until further notice. all of the ships lanes with the exception of the ones that the coast guard was just recently able to open have been closed and we don't expect that that -- expect that to change until sometime around the end of may if we are fortunate. aside from that i think it's always important to recognize it was not the collapse of the bridge alone that troubled us. but it was also a loss of human

life. . are hearts continue to go out to those that lost their loved ones on that bridge that fateful evening. this unimaginable disaster claimed the lives, as we know now, of six men, alejandro fuentes, mr. sandoval, miguel luna, ms. cabrera, renee lopez, and carlos hernandez. those stories and those lives have yet to be fully understood or told, but those men, most of whom have been in this country 16 or 17 years, working, in

most instances, two jobs, married with children and raising families, paying taxes, and doing what a lot of people would not want to do at 1:30 in the morning that high up on a bridge filling potholes. we in the state of maryland continue to mourn them, as do people all over the country, and we know they were, indeed, as i said, husbands, somebody's father, somebody's brother. their passing serves as a solemn reminder to cherish our own lives and the lives of those that we really deeply care about. these men gave their heart. they gave their souls ultimately. they leave behind six grieving families and loved

ones that will never see them again. so those families can never get enough of our condolences and our prayers and our sympathies. i want to thank the largest latino organization in maryland, and gustavo torres and all those who worked so hard to support those grieving families the day of the collapse and every day since then, both financially and emotionally. and i ask we continue to lift them in prayer in a time of great tragedy that all americans, regardless where they are, to some extent feel, understand, and grieve for. i'd be remiss if i did not thank president joe biden, who called the governor and myself and other members of the delegation that morning

to express his profound regret and his unstenching and unwavering support and finding a way to make things whole again, to rebuild that bridge, and to allow those shipping lanes of commerce to be open. president biden since the beginning of this has not wavered in his support of replacing that bridge. and not just for the sake of replacing a bridge and to open, as i said before, the channels of commerce, but to also find a way to give hope to all the many people who are affected, the thousands of longshoremen, thousands of dock workers that do odd jobs, all of those in the communities of turner station and dundalk, maryland, right at the mouth of the bridge. as well as all of those small businesses and business owners, the truck

drivers and others, everyone affected when all commerce came to a halt. so thank you, president biden, we appreciated the simple eloquence of your example in this tragedy. we pledge to work with you and with the appropriate members of the appropriations bill or appropriations committee here in the congress. in addition to the president, i want to thank secretary buttigieg who also reached out early that morning as the sun rose and who was one of the first boots on the ground by noon. secretary buttigieg was initially responsible in making sure that the greenup funds, the initial dollars got appropriated and were sent and being used now in cleanup of the massive amount of debris which i'm going to talk about which is almost unthinkable when you consider a bridge of that

size. administrator guzman and the s.b.a., we thank you and thank all those s.b.a. officials who came over and started working with small businesses who are severely impacted by this, as was the case with acting secretary sue of the department of labor. one of the things i think is important to mention now is the united states coast guard and the army corps of engineers immediately stood up a command team on the scene, immediately began working with governor wes moore of maryland who, by the way, has done an excellent job in marshaling all of the state's resources.

that command team made up of the army corps of engineers and the f.b.i. and so many others that were involved from the start of this really has made a difference in terms of the progress made thus far. the american department of the environment and the transportation authority also very much a part of what took place. so this unified command as i indicated were some of the first boots on the ground and responded to this crisis day in and day out with diligence and with precision. their work around the clock 24/7 does not go unnoticed by our city, our state, or our nation. and we owe much dedication to those service men and service women who at this hour as i speak are still very much involved as they have within in trying to find a way to open those

channels. there are 51 divers in the water right now going through the wreckage, trying to assess the danger in very dangerous, dark, and murky circumstances. we still have three individuals who have not yet been recovered. so the work of those divers is particularly important so these families might be able to bring closure to all that's going on. i mentioned governor wes -- i want to speak about his team and members of the maryland delegation who have worked in lock step with one another to get us to this point. my thanks to both senators in the other body, senators cardin and van hollen, the entire house delegation,

congressman hoyer, congressman raskin who you'll hear from in a moment. congressman sarbanes, andy harris, congressman antonio, congressman glenn ivey and myself. i might, before i talk about the state's effort and what we're really dealing with when we think of this collapse, it's more than just concrete and bricks and steel falling in the ocean. it's interrupted supply chains across this nation that we hope to reopen and re-establish. so allow me to yield three minutes to my fellow marylander, the gentleman who is ranking member of the house oversight committee, congressman raskin.

mr. raskin: thank you very much, mr. mfume. i'm grateful for your extraordinary leadership for this catastrophe and convening us for this special order hour this afternoon. i rise to speak about the devastating collapse of the francis scott key bridge in our beloved home state of maryland. in times of catastrophe across the country from earthquakes in california to hurricanes in florida, to flooding in louisiana, to wildfires in the west, to terrorism in new york or washington, d.c., we come together as a country to help our communities recover and rebuild. we cannot allow any of the political divisions in america today to interfere with this process of coming together to help a community struck by catastrophe in this way.

disasters befall all of our states, in all of our districts, and they are not partisan in character. we've got to stick together to support all of our communities. and that's what we're going to do. we will do in maryland and as a nation to rebuild the baltimore francis scott key bridge. i want to thank governor moore's administration, the coast guard, secretary buttigieg, the army corps of engineers, first responders, the maryland transportation authority, everyone working overtime to address this disaster. the unified command convened by the coast guard has been hard at work removing the bridge debris from the river and restoring access to the port. salvage and recovery operations are ongoing in a very difficult and complicated process. the dali vessel, weighing 213 million pounds is the same size as the eiffel tower with pieces of bridge weighing as much as 4,000 tons laying on top of it.

the water is frigid and murky complicating the ongoing and heroic rescue efforts that began immediately. i want to thank president biden and his administration for their exemplary leadership in the face of the catastrophe and his characteristic commitment to help the local community rebuild. the president has directed his administration to move help and earth to rebuild the bridge and to recover the port as rapidly as possible, and within hours of receiving maryland's request, the d.o.t. and the f.h.a. swiftly approved $60 million in initial aid. i also want to acknowledge the devastating loss of the six construction crew workers who were killed in this nightmare when they were working what seemed like a routine nighttime shift fixing potholes. our thoughts continue to go out to their families and their loved ones. we have a long road ahead

of us to rebuild the bridge in maryland, and our bipartisan congressional delegation stands ready to do everything it needs to be done to restore full access to the port and rebuild the bridge. i want to thank you again, mr. mfume, for your extraordinary leadership and thank all our colleagues who expressed their support and sympathy for the people of maryland dealing with this crisis. thanks very much. mr. mfume: i want to thank the distinguished gentleman from maryland whose district is miles from where this happened but has been with us every step of the way. mr. speaker, i'd like to yield now to the gentleman from maryland, also, mr. sarbanes. yielding three minutes. mr. sarbanes: thank you very much, congressman mfume, and i want to thank you for organizing this

special tribute to the six hard-working men who lost their lives during this collapse of the bridge on march 26. they got up that morning, early in the morning, because they were out there in the middle of the night on this shift, not knowing, obviously, what was going to happen and their families could have no inkling of what was going to happen on that tragic day. but they were just out there doing their job. and i want to thank you in particular, because in every setting now, every public statement you've made, you've led with concern and focus on those six workers that were lost. they were husbands, they were dads, brothers, friends, and our deepest condolences go out to their families who are feeling that incredibly profound loss. this is also a tribute to the first responders who

sprung into action, and as a result, were able to save other lives on the day of that collapse. and they continue these first responders to search for the remaining bodies of those that were lost. under very dangerous conditions because they want to reunite them with their families and their loved ones, so they will be remembered as heroes, and they deserve today's tribute. we also want to pay tribute to the we also want to pay tribute to the response, immediate response. within minutes of this disaster, president biden made clear that the nation was going to step in and step up. and he put his team, led by secretary buttigieg and others, on the task.

and in baltimore, we could feel that embrace and that support right out of the gate. so this is a tribute to the executive branch response, it is a tribute to president biden and his team. it's also a tribute to governor moore. who also stepped up that day and frankly every day since to show the solidarity of this response and this unified command. so we're going to push through this. and you know, baltimore gets knocked down sometimes. but we always stand back up. that's the grit of baltimore. and in this case we know we can't stand up by ourselves. we need president biden. we need governor moore. and we need the united states congress to be part of a

national response for a national project to restore the channel and the port of baltimore which is so critical to the economy of our city, our state, our region, and the nation, and then ultimately as we know, to rebuild the francis scott key bridge. so that's why we're here paying tribute in the way we are today and again, i want to thank my colleague, congressman mfume, for organizing this opportunity for us today. with that, i yield back. mr. mfume: i thank the gentleman, i thank him for his interest, his work, his dedication to this mission that is before all of us, and that is to rebuild this bridge and open the lanes of commerce once again so that our nation's economy is not affected in ways that would cause us unwanted and unnecessary harm. mr. speaker, i'd like at this point in time to yield three minutes to the speaker emery

thousands of united states house of representatives. she is a native of baltimore, the daughter of a mayor, daughter of a wongperson, but the daughter of the city. the honorable nancy pelosi. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i especially thank him for his leadership for the great state of maryland and the city oif -- and the city of baltimore as well as for calling this special order this evening so that we could come together and express the heart break that we all felt and now to commemorate the collapse of the francis scott key bridge and these six beautiful souls, loving memory of them who last their souls on that dark morning. thank you again, congressman, for ordering this special order. i join you and congresswoman --

conditioningman sarbanes in recognizing leadership role of the governor of maryland, wes moore. i want to pay tribute to the mayor of baltimore, brandon scott, and to all our con gregal delegation for uniting together in a bipartisan way in response to this tragedy. two weeks ago, just to remind, it was two weeks ago, in the dark of night, braving the cold, a crew got to work making repairs to the francis scott key bridge. they were doing their jobs. so that 30,000 people a day could go to theirs, to do their jobs. our love and prayers are with those who lost their lives in this collapse and with their families who lost a husband, a brother, a father, a son. our gratitude is with the heroic emergency responders. they responded so quickly and saved lives as well as the teams working quickly to clear the channel. the magnitude of the collapse

cannot be understated, six families shattered, first and foremost. tens of thousands of commuters rerouted. paralysis of a port that handled $80 billion a year in commerce, sending a shock wave to the entire economy. but inspiered by the love, unity and resilience of the baltimore community, baltimore will rebuild. president obama, as has been mentioned, and the congress must be there with resources to support every step of the way. and on that score i would say that having been in this congress a long time, sadly we have born witness to many natural and other disasters that have befallen our communities whether it was the bridge in minnesota, whether it was the storm in florida, whether it was katrina in new orleans, whether it was water damage in iowa. the list go on and on. but we have all been there. for each other. maybe not all of us, but most of

us have been there. and this is a big, big tragedy. but in terms of cost, much smaller than many of the hurricanes and the rest that have happened in the rest of the country. but we can learn from them. whether it's unemployment insurance for the workers, whatever it happens to be. we want to make sure that we utilize every resource at our disposal to bring people together. governor has pointed out, as has other members of the delegation, congressman sarbanes, our senators, ben cardin and chris van hollen, that this is a national challenge. you are a -- if you are a restaurateur in tennessee if you're an autoworker in ohio, you're affected by this. if you're a salesperson in west

virginia you're affected by this. because of the -- just the products that come through. the products that come through. and the jobs that are affected by it. in closing, i mean -- again, my father was mayor of baltimore my whole life, from when i was in first grade, to when i left for college he was mayor of baltimore. that's where my heart is. i was always so proud of the fact that the national anthem was written in baltimore. francis scott key, in the war of 1812, wrote the national anthem. my brother tommy who also was mayor of baltimore, was always fond of singing it in his way. and the line in the song that i always liked the best and i think that applies here is when he says, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. that's when i start cheering at

the game. not at the end but at that point. like i just did at opening day in s. these are the words penned by francis scott key as the gazed upon the ramparts. now a bridge bearing his name is where -- near where those ramparts were. and as we rebuild, indeed, give proof through the night that our flag is still there. our flag being our unifying, unifying symbol of our country. that we're all in this together. and we will be there. we'll learn from other disasters. we'll teach other disasters in the future. by how we in a new, fresh way, in the baltimore way, baltimore strong, rebuild the francis scott key bridge. proof through the night that our flag was still there thank you, mr. mfume. i'm pleased to yield back to you. mr. mfume: thank you very, very

much, madam speaker emeritae, both for your leadership in the greater san francisco area but alsoor your love for the city of baltimore. both cities are very, very fortunate to have you. i can only say thanks. speaker nan nan i pelosi. mr. speaker, may i inquire how much time is remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 29 minutes still remaining. mr. mfume: thank you very much. i'd like to yield to the gentleman from maryland, mr. ivey, for three minutes. mr. ivey: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. and i want to thank him for organizing this special order hour. i also want to join with the comment that was already been

made with rp to condolences to the families of the six lives that were lost. i remember when i heard about it that morning, there were eight, i think that had -- were missing initially. and i remember praying at that time that they would survive even though the emergency services made immediate efforts to try and save them, and blocked off the roads so no other people were going to meet that fate, i know that we've lost six at this point. so it's a sad moment. a tragic evening. we want to extend our condolences to them and their families and their communities. gustavo torres and other officials and leaders in those communities recognize the impact that was had and we certainly want to tell them that we support them, we're going to work hard to help them make it through this tragedy. in every way that we can. i also want to commend governor

moore, who has been outstanning in the way he's handled this event. the leadership he's provided has been quite impressive, i think. he's risen to the occasion. i knew he was a talented leader but i think he's demonstrated that repeatedly during this time. i want to thank the biden administration, too. for taking immediate steps. the president himself came out, i think that same day. and made the commitment to make sure that the bridge got rebuilt. that the federal government was going to make 100% efforts to cover those costs. and that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that that happened quickly. that we weren't going to wait for the litigation to take place because i think the last time there was a bridge collapse, the litigation took 10 years to resolve. thank goodness he's decided to mauve it forward immediately. because we need that money now. we need to rebuild it. you've heard about the economic impact on the region. and i think that's certainly the

case. so making initial and quick steps to make that recovery happen i think is critical. i did want to say this, too. that morning, i was -- i got calls from reporters. about the tragedy. some were asking for initial responses. some were also asking about comments people had made with respect to the collapse of the bridge. one candidate for congress said d.e.i. did this. and he called mayor brandon scott the d.e.i. mayor. one right-wing provocateur said four agents of the united states attacked digital infrastructures. another said, looks deliberate to me. a cyber attack is probable. world war iii has already started. and then lastly, a utah state representative, this is what happens when you have governors who prioritize diversity over

the well-being and security of our citizens. and i told that reporter then and i want to say it on the house floor now that i thought those comments were beyond disgusting and irresponsible. and that i thought it was a sad moment. i know we're having very partisan times here in the united states and certainly here in the house. but i think this is a moment where we need to rise above that. and i want to thank my republican colleagues who did just that and are doing just that now. andy harris stood with us. congressman andy harris stood with us yesterday. we had a press conference where we had the biden administration present, the governor was present, the house and senate delegation from maryland were all present. and he was there too and voiced his support for full recovery of the bridge. and i want to say this just to end. the voices that i just mentioned a moment ago, those are not the representative voices of my colleagues here in congress. i think they understand that this is not about red states or

blue states. this is a moment where this is about the united states of america. and it's times like this where we have to turn to each other, not on each other, so we can rise above the tragedy and move forward together. i know we can do better. i know we'll continue to do better. i want to commend all of those who have done better so far with this effort. so thank you for yielding, i now yield back. mr. mfume: i thank the gentleman for his comments, his leadership on this, and his steadfastness as we all tray to work together to move beyond this american disaster and to create in its place a new bridge, new lanes of commerce, and new opportunities, economically, for people who relied so much on that port and by the way, on every port in this country. mr. speaker, i'd like to yield three minutes now to the distinguished gentleman from maryland, mr. ruppersberger, a senior member of the appropriations committee.

mr. ruppersberger: mr. chairman, first thing i want to tell you, i represented the spires point, the key bridge for over 20 years. we just had redistricting. and all of a sudden, you're the new person. and you've jumped in with both feet and i appreciate your leadership, holding people together. the funny thing, the bridge is located in baltimore city. but baltimore county is right next to it. i grew up and went to school in the city. here i go again. and you went to turner station. and -- which is in baltimore county. so it's really, i think, unique that you're here now, as we move forward, and to do whatever you need to do. you're doing a great job. i want to thank you for your leadership and all you're doing. ok. first thing i said before, i proudly represented the port for over 20 years until the recent redistricting. .

i watched the portland agree into a -- port grow into a strong economic engine. today the port supports more than 51,000 direct, induced and indirect jobs and another 346,000 related jobs. these are jobs associated with the cargo moving through the port companies that export and import cargo through the port, as well as end stage businesses like manufacturers and auto dealers. all this activity generated $5 billion in personal wages and salaries for marylanders last year alone. and brought in $647 million in state and local tax revenues. in total, the economic value of the port of baltimore to the state of maryland just in 2023 was more than $70 billion. let me say that again. $70 billion. now, with the development of

trade point atlantic at the foot of what was once the key bridge, the opportunities for even more employment and economic growth are exponential, unlimited. we are anticipating a tremendous surge in manufacturing jobs, as well as jobs in retail and hospitality. and that is why we have invested smartly, strategically in the port over the years at the local, state and federal levels. we added an impressive 50-foot berth and massive container % we upgraded terminals, we're expanding the howard street tunnel so they can hand double-stacked trains going to and from the port with cargo. last year the federal government awarded the port $47 million for a new roll-on and roll-off pad and offshore wind project and other upgrades for the key bridge in the port of baltimore. this of course was part of the massive investment that came out

of the bipartisan, bipartisan infrastructure bill this body wisely passed in 2021 to help us compete with ports around the world. and these investments are paying off in dividends. in fact, last year while ports nationwide were returning to their pre-pandemic baselines, the port of baltimore was the only u.s. port to seek container volume in-- to see container volume increase. we handled record cargo. clearly investing in our infrastructure is a safe return for our taxpayers. it's creating jobs, making our supply chains more resilient and cushing inflation -- curbing inflation. and so rebuilding the key bridge as quickly and safely as possible is a top priority for me, for our state, for our country. it's a top priority for maryland delegation and it should be a top priority for all of us. our delegation will soon be introducing legislation to require the federal government to make good on the president's

commitment and we thank the president for his commitment 100%, to cover the cost of rebuilding the bridge and we're going to do it quickly and we have a lot of individuals throughout the country working to do this for us. this is consistent with the catastrophic loss of other major infrastructure elsewhere in the country. there's no time for partisan politics or unreasonable demands. we must pass this quickly together. we also cannot lose sight of the human toll of this unimaginable tragedy, not only the port workers who will be unemployment or underemployment, but the six construction workers who lost their lives. my heart goes out to them and their loved ones. they were doing dangerous, gritty work, filling pot holes in the middle of the night to support their families and serve their community. they deserve our respect. and finally, i want to thank our governor for stepping up on a state level, our local government, our mayor, our county executive and we really have come together as a team.

and my hope is that in rebuilding better, we can prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again, to prevent other families from experiencing the same grief that they are experiencing right now. i urge all my colleagues to support us in the effort and i yield back except for one thing. i've been here for a while, this is my last term. and i'm not happy with where this congress is now on both sides of the aisle. not working together to get things done. i hope that this experience, this negative experience, will turn into a positive experience where republicans and democrats will work together for the benefit of the united states of america and for my home, baltimore. thank you. and i yield back. mr. mfume: i thank the gentleman for his words. we thank him also for his service to this body for almost two decades. we wish him well as he goes forward. and one thing we're all sure about, that his heart remains in baltimore. mr. speaker, i would like to at this particular point in time

yield to another gentleman from maryland, mr. harris, a senior member also of the appropriations committee and a member whose eastern shore of maryland is his entire district and the entire coastline and who has always worked diligently on behalf of issues affecting the bay. >> mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. today i rise as fellow members of my delegation have to speak regarding the collapse of the key bridge. and especially to honor the memory of the hardworking men who lost their lives the morning the bridge collapsed. these hardworking men were fellow marylanders, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends and their passing serves as a solemn reminder to cherish our own lives and the lives of those we love deeply. mr. speaker, the maryland congressional delegation stands united as we mourn those lost

and extend our heartfelt con dollences to their -- condolences to their grieve families. i also want -- their grieving families. i also want to acknowledge maryland's first responders. mr. harris: once that call was issued from the approaching ship, maryland's transportation authority police acted quickly. in less than two minutes, stopped traffic from coming over the bridge. they averted an even greater tragedy. we want to thank those officers who protect us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even in the middle of the night, while most of us sleep, as was the case that day. mr. speaker, the collapse of the francis scott key bridge and the closure of the port of baltimore has cost serious economic consequences for our state's economy. the baltimore port is the largest u.s. port for handling farm and construction machinery,

handles agricultural products, it's also a large export facility for american coal. 15,000 jobs directly depend on the port of baltimore and i want to especially thank the army corps of engineers for their quick and tireless work to get the channel cleared so that the port can re-open as soon as possible. as we continue to work on the clean-up phase of the bridge collapse, it's important that we seek maximum liability from those foreign companies who owned and operated the ship that crashed into the bridge. as i have long said, american taxpayers in both maryland and across the country should not be held responsible to pay for the cost to rebuild the bridge, if indeed there was negligence on the part of those foreign-owned shipping companies. mr. speaker, in closing, tragedy knows no partisanship. the key bridge collapse wasn't a republican tragedy, it wasn't a democrat tragedy. and the solution to clearing the channel, reopening the port and

building the bridge back even better than it was before won't be a partisan solution. it will be a bipartisan one. as we navigate the necessary legislation going forward, we all commit in the delegation to working in a bipartisan way to cut through federal red tape, clear that channel, open that port and construct an even better, safer bridge. so that our fellow medicarers, maryland's -- marylanders, maryland's economy and those affected by this tragedy will come back stronger, safer and united. i yield back. mr. mfume: i want to thank the gentleman for his comments and to underscore what i said earlier and what was said by several other people, that this disaster is not a partisan disaster. it affects all of us in this country, regardless of our political label, and i just want to commend the gentleman from maryland, mr. harris, for his

steadfastness on this and i'm going to take a few moments to talk about several other members on both sides of the aisle who have, through their example, demonstrated the best way to go about dealing with a disaster like that. and that is to do it lock-step together. mr. speaker, i want to recognize the other gentleman from maryland, mr. steny hoyer. i want to recognize him and yield five minutes. he, as you know, is the former minority leader, he is, for those who don't know, the dean of the maryland delegation. steny? mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding but just for the record, i was the majority leader. late at night, a ship being

guided by people working for the port authority of baltimore lost control of a gigantic ship. unable to propel it or guide it, they called immediately to the transportation authority, as mre good news for -- we don't know how many people but perhaps hundreds, they acted quickly. we had a tragedy for the loss of six lives. working on that bridge to keep it in good shape and safe shape. tragically for them, that gigantic ship that had lost power and lost the ability to steer it took down a significant

portion of the francis scott key bridge. causing their deaths. and that we lament and send our thoughts to their families. that was the immediate tragic effect. but the effect of these -- of this bridge and the sections of the bridge falling into the channel and precluding inagrees and eagrees -- ingress and egress had international consequences. certainly consequences to the state of maryland. certainly consequences to the united states of america. this port being one of the busiest ports in america. and, as the previous speakers have said, carrying a variety of

critically necessary products and creating a dynamic economy not only around the port itself, not only in maryland, but internationally. so i rise to join my colleagues and you might be surprised that this is bipartisan, nonpartisan in approach, but it is because, as mr. harris, again, said, this is not a partisan tragedy. this is a tragedy for those who lost their lives, those who have lost their immediate economic -- whether they were owners, shippers, whatever, or longshoremen and others working for the port. as a result, we in maryland believe this is -- as we would believe if it were another port

that had been so damaged, that this is a question that the entire country needs to address. we've done that before, we did it when the minnesota bridge fell on an interstate and we acted. and we acted as a nation, 100% paying for that minnesota repair. we hope that and believe that the congress will do the same. we are pleased that president biden in a very short time after the accident occurred said that's what the nation would do and that's what he would recommend. i want to congratulate our governor who has set up essentially a command center and i think every american citizen would be extraordinarily proud not only of those people who acted within a minute of

stopping traffic, of hearing the danger from the ship itself. but also the coast guard, the -- not the board of public works but the -- what's the -- the army corps of engineers. they acted within literally hours of the accident, putting the machinery to fix it and open this port and to take care of the people who work for the port and are advantaged by the port. and they're on the job today, they'll be on the job tonight, they'll be on the job tomorrow morning. and our secretary of transportation who oversees the port authority indicated to us just a few days ago when we had a hearing that they are hoping to open this port to 80% of the

shipping that would use this port, not this big tech, they need a deeper draft, but a 30-plus-feet draft by the end of may. .... that is government at its best. in the press conference we had, i'll close with this, the biggest tragedies in many instances bring out the best of government. best of people. and helping one another overcome that tragedy. so i thank the gentleman for taking out this special order. this happened in his district. but it affects 434 other districts. the nation. and countless countries. so i thank him for his leadership. for his strong voice. and for galvanizing the maryland delegation along with the

governor of our state, governor moore. to meet this challenge and make it better. thank you. mr. mfume: i thank the gentleman from maryland, the former majority leader of the united states house of representatives, for his comments, his friendship, but also for the effort he has put forward as a part of what we call team maryland. again, a bipartisan effort to correct this tragedy. and mr. speaker, i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois, mr. garcia. mr. garcia: mr. speaker, i thank representative mfume for -- and my colleagues from maryland, for organizing this special hour. i bring heart felt condolences from chicagoland. next to me are -- is a picture of the six men who died in this accident. they were doing construction work on the bridge as it collapsed.

all six of them were immigrants from mexico. el salvador. honduras. and guatemala. darlian cabrera. miguel lieu gay. sandoval. alejandro fuentes. carlos hernandez. hoe se -- jose lopez. like far too him grants they encountered tragedy working in the country they came to seeking a better life. immigrants keep our country moving. immigrants power our economy. but immigrants are more than just their labor. latinos are disproportionately in high-risk jobs like construction. and we cannot wait for tragic accidents or death to recognize immigrants' humanity. so as we rebuild the key bridge we must also advocate for stronger workplace protections for all workers. including immigrants.

regardless of their status. rebuilding the key bridge is a national imperative. there's precedent for the federal government footing the bill in situations like this, and as a member of the transportation and train -- and infrastructure committee i'll fight to make sure that this happens. after all, key bridge has regional national and international significance. my thoughts are with the families of those who perished working on the bridge my thoughts are with the people of baltimore and maryland. i yield back. mr. mfume: mr. speaker, may i inquire how much time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 3 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. mfume: thank you very much. i want to do a couple of things here and that is to number one thank speaker johnson for the conversation that we had shortly after this bridge collapsed. and for his full understanding

of the impact on the nation and why this is so very important, that we again allow commerce to flow through that port. i want to thank rosa delawyer reand hakeem jeffries, our minority leader. rosa, the ranking member on the appropriations committee, for their understanding of this issue. particularly leader jeffries who went above and beyond a commitment personally to try to get this thing done and to make sure that we did it together. i'd be remiss if i did not thank tom cole, the new chair of the appropriations committee who spoke with me just two days after this happened, and who understands completely the economic impact that this poses for our nation as well as to members on both sides of the aisle as we try find a way to make sure we move forward. let me be redunn cant and underscore the fact that this is one of the nation's top ports.

it's the largest estuary that it sits over, meaning the chesapeake bay and the petapsko river. but the port sits a significant contributor to our economy and it's the number one port in terms of roll on and roll off of automobiles. new automobiles. it's great exporter and -- of titanium. of sugar. of coal. and of a number of other imports. i want to also -- as well as exports. i want to also say it's been a pleasure working with our governor. working with mayor brandon scott of baltimore. county executive jobny oh of baltimore county. bill ferguson, the president of the senate in maryland. and adrian jones, the speak over the house who have push through the emergency legislation to help us to assist all of the dockworkers that are affected, all the small businesses that

are affected, and helping us to move toward some sort of resolution of this issue. i began my remarks by saying that we must not ever forget the human toll, the lives lost that day. and again as we think about this well into the future, i hope that all of us remember that this was a bridge, but this was more than just a bridge. it became a graveyard also. and so because of the suffering that these families have endured, i would ask everyone all over the nation to join us in understanding that this is not a partisan issue. that we must find a way together to get through this. that we must protect our nation's supply chains and all of that risk that it poses for consumers in our society. and that we can do it together. there will be a process to determine the funding mechanisms

and the funding ratios. that will all be part of some of what the appropriations committee will do, i'm sure. but more than anything else, this becomes a milestone and i hope that we look at it as a problem that occurred that was solved by the work and by the potential and by the input of everybody who cared no matter where in fact they were or are. i thank you, mr. speaker, and