AAPA Seaports
On the afternoon of Oct. 13, port and other supply chain leaders met with President Biden to discuss challenges currently faced by global logistics networks. Mario Cordero, AAPA chairman and executive director of the Port of Long Beach, and Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, attended the meeting along with executives from Wal-Mart, FedEx and UPS. As part of the meeting, the president announced that the Port of LA would begin 24/7 operations, in an effort to reduce cargo backlogs. This follows a similar announcement made earlier by the Port of Long Beach.
In public remarks after the meeting, President Biden touted the importance of the infrastructure bills currently being considered in Congress saying, “These bills will transform our ports. Billions of dollars for ports, highways, and rail systems… We’re proposing to make the biggest investment in ports in our history.”
Ports Make Their Voices Heard in Congress
In addition to their meeting at the White House, ports are reaching out to their representatives on Capitol Hill, pushing for Congress to pass much-needed infrastructure legislation that will go a long way to solving some of the supply chain challenges. Send a message to your representatives urging them to pass this legislation and provide over $11 billion in investments for ports.
As a reminder, AAPA’s Government Relations team has formed an Infrastructure Task Force to share intelligence, coordinate on legislative asks, and align on messaging as Congress continues to negotiate two massive infrastructure packages. The group meets monthly. To get involved with the task force, email Ian Gansler at [email protected] (open to U.S. port members only).
