Jones Secures Additional $5 Million For Morehead City Harbor | Eastern North Carolina Now

 Washington, DC     Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) secured an additional $5 million dollars from the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge Morehead City Harbor this year. Last month, Congressman Jones wrote a letter to Army Corps of Engineers leaders explaining that the harbor's channel has shoaled from its authorized depth of 45 feet down to 38 feet, and requested additional resources to address the problem. He explained that while the $8,796,000 provided for the project in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2016 budget request is helpful, it would not be sufficient to return the channel to its authorized depth. As a result, many of the jobs and economic impact related to the harbor are at risk.

 Although Congress no longer has the ability to legislatively increase funding for specific projects because of an earmark ban imposed in 2011, Congress did attempt to address some of the waterway maintenance issues across the nation in the recently-passed omnibus Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations bill. In that bill, Congress created several unallocated pots of money for different project categories, including "Deep Draft Harbors and Channels," and gave the Corps a list of criteria to use in determining which projects to fund from these pots. In his January letter to the Corps' top two leaders, Congressman Jones made the case that the Morehead City Harbor is exactly the type of project that Congress had in mind when it provided the Corps with these additional pots of money. He also laid out exactly how the Morehead City Harbor meets the criteria for project selection established by Congress.

 Today, it was announced that the Army Corps has granted Congressman Jones' request and allocated an additional $5 million to Morehead City Harbor. When added to the $8,796,000 in the President's budget, the total in FY16 federal funding for the project is $13,796,000 million.

 "I appreciate that the Army Corps of Engineers has accepted my request for additional resources," said Congressman Jones. "Maintaining Morehead City Harbor is vital to the Eastern North Carolina economy. The port supports over 3,700 jobs, and the businesses that rely on it must have safe access through the harbor. I will continue to do everything I can to fight for that cause."

• Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3)
•  2333 Rayburn House Office Building
•  Washington, DC 20515
• Contact: Maria Jeffrey
•  Communications Director
•  Maria.Jeffrey@mail.house.gov
•  (202) 225-3415